The night sky this monthhttp://www.jodcast.net/
enLicensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 England & Wales LicenceIan Morison tells you what can be seen in the night sky this month.Fri, 19 Jun 2015 20:37:45 +0100Ian Morison tells you what can be seen in the night sky this month.Ian Morison tells you what can be seen in the night sky this month.Jodrell Bank Observatoryastronomy,night,sky,telescope,stars,constellations,planetsjodcast@jb.man.ac.ukCleanThe night sky for July 2015Mon, 06 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000Northern Hemisphere

Arcturis, the brightest star in the constellation of Bootes, is visible in the southwest. Meanwhile, in the northwest, Merak and Dubhe of the constellation Ursa Major may be seen pointing towards the Polaris near the North Celestial Pole. Further north the w-shaped set of stars which form Cassiopeia may be seen, while towards the east the Summer Triangle is clearly visible. It is composed of three bright stars: Vega of Lyra, Deneb of Cygnus, and Altair of Aquila. Just to the left of Vega lies the Double-double: what appears to be a binary star system when viewed with binoculars becomes two binaries when observed through a telescope. Below Albireo, the head of Cygnus the Swan, the Cygnus Rift, a dark, dusty region of the Milky Way may be seen. Within the Cygnus Rift you may spot Brocchi's Cluster, also known as the Coathanger, while to the lower left of the summer triangle lies a faint constellation known as Delphinus the dolphin. Halfway between Arcturis and Vega lies the constellation of Hecules. The Keystone of Hercules consists of the four stars in its center, and on its right hand side lies M13, the Great Globular Cluster, and the brightest in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Planets

Jupiter stays close to Venus following their conjunction on June 30th. They both appear low in the western sky just after sunset. It is currently shining at magnitude -1.8, but dims to -1.7 magnitudes towards month's end. Its angular diameter will shrink from 32.4 to 31.2" over the month. Up to four of the Galilean moons and the dark equatorial bands will be visible, however the Great Red Spot will be harder to see without good seeing and transparency.

Saturn is still well placed for observations in the south at nightfall. It moves slowly in retrograde motion in the eastern part of Libra, but still close to the fan of three stars which make up the head of Scorpius. It dims from +0.2 to +0.4 magnitudes, and its disk shrinks from 18.1 to 17.3" over the month. The ring system, tilted 24 degrees from the line of sight and spanning 40" across makes for a wonderful sight.

Mercury will be sinking back towards the light of pre-dawn sky for the first part of the month. It will be best seen at the start of the month, with a magnitude of -0.2 and a phase of 52 percent. Its 7" diameter disk should just be visible with binoculars on the east-northeast horizon as dawn breaks.

Mars is just 8' away from Mercury on the 16th of the month. Throughout the month it will be visible low above the north-eastern horizon before dawn breaks. It will brighten from +1.6 to +1.7 magnitudes over the month, while its disk, fully illuminated, will remain at an angular size of 3.6".

Venus, shining brightly at magnitude -4.6, dominates the western sky from half an hour after sunset for the first part of the month. First appearing 19 degrees above the western horzon, and setting at 11:35 BST, it lies in Leo and moves towards, and then beyond, Regulus. On July 18th it will be joined by Jupiter, and by a thin crescent moon. It then wanders westward from July 23rd, before returning towards Jupiter on the 31st, when it will be 6 degrees south of the gas giant. Throughout the month it will increase in angular size from 33 to 51", and decrease in phase from 34 to 8 percent.

Highlights

Saturn, and its moon Titan, are still easily visible this month. To find Saturn in the sky, follow the arc of the Plough's handle downwards to first find the orange star Arcturus and continue down to find the white, first magnitude star, Spica, in Virgo. Saturn, a little brighter than Spica, lies in Libra down to its lower left and will appear slighly yellow in colour. As it rotates its equator bulges slightly giving it a squashed appearance. Like Jupiter, it does show belts but their colours are muted in comparison. Over the coming years Saturn's rings will continue to open out due to its rotation until they reach their most illuminated in May 2017.

There are two very nice objects to spot with binoculars high in the south-western sky, well after dark this month. Two thirds of the way up the right hand side of the 4 stars that make up the Keystone in the constellation Hercules is M13, the brightest globular cluster visible in the northern sky. Just to the left of the bright star Vega in Lyra is the multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae often called the Double-double. With binoculars a binary star is seen but, when observed with a telescope, each of these two stars is revealed to be a double star - hence the name!

Noctilucent clouds are most commonly seen in the deep twilight towards the north from our latitude. Normally too faint to be seen, they are visible when illuminated by sunlight from below the northern horizon whilst the lower parts of the atmosphere are in shadow. So on a clear dark night this month, as light is draining from the north western sky long after sunset take a look towards the north - you might just spot them!

Around one hour after sunset on July 4th, given a clear sky and low western horizon, you should be able to spot Venus 2 degrees to the left of Jupiter, with both down to the lower right of Regulus in Leo. Venus, shining at magnitude -4.6, should be easy to spot, but binoculars may be required to pick out Jupiter at -1.8 against the darkening sky.

About one hour before sunrise on July 12th look above the eastern horizon. You should, if clear, be able to spot a thin waning crescent Moon near to the Hyades Cluster in Taurus - in which direction is also seen the orange giant star, Aldebara.

After sunset on July 18th, there will be a very close grouping of the planets Jupiter and Venus along with a waxing thin crescent Moon close to Regulus in Leo. They would all lie in the field of view of a pair of low power binoculars and this is probably the best imaging opportunity this month if we are lucky enough to have clear skies. It will still be pretty light as they begin to set, so you will need a very low horizon towards the west.

July 9th and 25th are great nights to observe two of the greatest craters on the Moon, Tycho and Copernicus. At full Moon the rays of material that were ejected when Tycho was formed can be see arcing across the surface. Copernicus is about 800 million years old and lies in the eastern Oceanus Procellarum beyond the end of the Apennine Mountains. It is 93km wide and nearly 4km deep and is a clasic "terraced" crater.

Southern Hemisphere

Venus and Jupiter begin the month as pair in our north western evening sky after dark. They will gradually move further apart as Jupiter sinks more quickly into the western twilight. Venus, too, sinks throughout the month and appears a thin crescent through a telescope. Through a small telescope Jupiter’s 4 largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, are visible, lined up to either side of the planet.

High in the north-east lies Saturn, its rings and largest moon, Titan, visible through a small telescope. Close by are the claws of Scorpius, with Antares a little further to the right. Lying along the tail of the scorpion is NGC 6231, a bright cluster of stars which looks like a small comet. At magnitude +2.6 this is easily visible to the naked eye, but in a dark sight, with a good pair of binoculars, NGC 6231 appears in an area of nebulosity, intermingled with open clusters Trumpler 24 and Collinder 316 to form a complex sometimes known as the Scorpius Lizard.

A little above the Scorpions tail, NGC 6193 is visible to the naked eye at magnitude +5.2, and nearby NGC 6167 may be seen with binoculars or a small telescope. Below Scorpius is an upside down teapot formed from the brightest stars in Sagittarius. To the left of the teapot’s spout, just visible to the naked eye, is the Lagoon Nebula (M8). Along with the nearby Trifid Nebula (M20), the Lagoon Nebula is a good target for binoculars or a small telescope.

There are also a number of globular clusters in this part of the sky. The brightest is M4, and this is also one of the easiest to find, lying just 1.3 degrees west of Antares. Appearing as a small fuzzy ball in binoculars or small telescopes, a slightly larger telescope will begin to pick out individual stars. Also in this region, near the top of the teapot, is M22.

From its bright centre the Milky Way stretches overhead through the diamond-kite-shaped Crux, the Southern Cross, and on to Carina, Vela and Puppis, which together make up the great ship Argo Navis, famous in Greek mythology. To Maori the Southern Cross is known as Te Punga, the anchor of Tamareriti’s waka, which stretches out along the Milky Way.

Alpha Crucis, the brightest star in the Southern Cross appears to be a single star with a magnitude of +0.9, but a small telescope will reveal a double star with blue-white components of magnitudes +1.4 and +1.9. Beta Crucis, slightly fainter at +1.3 magnitudes, is also blue-white. Gamma Crucis, at the top of the cross, is easy to pick out by its reddish-orange colour. A little below Crux are the Diamond Cross and False Cross. To distinguish Crux, seek The Pointers, Alpha and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri is the third brightest star in the night sky at magnitude -0.27. Beta Centauri appears almost as bright, with a combined magnitude of +0.6. Using these stars to find the Southern Cross is as easy as ABC - Alpha, Beta, Crux.

The constellation of Leo the Lion is setting in the west after sunset, with the asterism of the Sickle forming its mane and Regulus as its brightest star. The planets Jupiter and Venus are both found here later in the month. Towards the South is the Realm of the Galaxies, in Virgo and Coma Berenices, where a telescope can pick out many deep-sky objects. The bright star Arcturus, in Bootes, resides nearby. Cygnus the Swan and Lyra the Lyre are rising in the east, with Hercules in between them and Bootes. The Summer Triangle, composed of the stars Altair in Aquila, Deneb in Cygnus and Vega in Lyra, is visible. One third of the way from Altair to Vega lies the Cygnus Rift, a dark region of dust in the Milky Way, which hosts Brocchi's Cluster, also known as the Coathanger. Ursa Major is almost overhead.

The Planets

Jupiter is still bright in the south-west at nightfall. Its brightness declines from magnitude -1.9 to -1.8 during the month, while its angular size drops from 35 to 32.5". It moves from Cancer into Leo on the 9th and heads towards Regulus. Although the current apparition is past its best, a small telescope can still show Jupiter's equatorial bands and its four Galilean moons.

Saturn reached opposition on the 22nd of May, so it is visible in the south-east after dark and crosses the southern sky during the night. It is moving retrograde (westwards) through the eastern part of Libra, close to the fan of three stars marking the head of Scorpius the Scorpion and only 3 degrees from the double star Beta Scorpii. The planet is 18" across, and the rings span 41", tilting at 24 degrees to the line of sight. However, Saturn's low elevation, never rising above 20 degrees from the UK, makes atmospheric blurring a problem when observing it closely.

Mercury was at inferior conjunction (between the Earth and Sun) on the 30th of May, so it is not visible for the first part of June. It then climbs slowly into the pre-dawn sky, reaching western elongation (its greatest separation from the Sun in our sky) on the 24th. It has a magnitude of +0.5 and an illuminated fraction of 35 percent at this time, and should be visible just above the east-north-eastern horizon at dawn, with Aldebaran and the Hyades Cluster 2 degrees to its lower right. By month's end, Mercury is a little brighter and sits 6 degrees above the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise.

Mars passes behind the Sun (superior conjunction) on the 14th, so it is not visible this month.

Venus brightens from magnitude -4.4 to -4.6 this month, dominating the western sky after sunset. It reaches elongation on the 6th, when it is 45.5 degrees from the Sun in the eastern part of Gemini. At the beginnings of June, it appears about half an hour after sunset, 29 degrees above the horizon. It grows from 22 to 32" during the month, while its illuminated fraction drops from a gibbous 53 to a crescent 34 percent. It is 19 degrees above the horizon at sunset at the end of the month, setting around 23:35 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time) from the UK.

Highlights

This month is a good time to observe Saturn, as it is due south and at its highest not long after dark. To find it, follow the Plough's handle downwards to the orange star Arcturus, then continue to the white star Spica in Virgo. Saturn is a little brighter and yellower than Spica, and lies to its lower left in Libra. Binoculars or a telescope should reveal Saturn's brightest moon, Titan, at magnitude +8.2, and a magnification of at least 25 times allows the planet's rings to be seen. Saturn is visibly flattened by its rapid rotation. It has bands on its surface, but their colours are muted. The outer A and B rings are separated by Cassini's Division, which should be visible in a telescope of 4 or more inches (10 centimetres) in aperture when the atmosphere is fairly still. Within them is the C ring, but this is harder to spot. The inclination of the rings increases with respect to Earth until May 2017, making them more visible than usual for the next few years.

The globular cluster M13 in Hercules and the 'Double Double' in Lyra are easily seen with binoculars or a telescope this month. M13 appears as a fuzzy blob, and is the brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere sky. The Double Double consists of a pair of binary stars to the lower left of Vega, which looks like two stars in binoculars but four in a telescope.

The latter part of June is a good time to spot noctilucent (or polar mesospheric) clouds. Seen in the north at the end of twilight, they are the highest clouds in our atmosphere and float some 50 miles (80 kilometres) above the ground. Normally too faint to see, they can appear when illuminated by the Sun a little while after it has dropped below the horizon as seen from the ground. Look for them on a dark, clear night, as the last daylight is draining from the northern sky.

The June Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the night of the 15th-16th. The meteors appear to radiate from a point near the star Vega in Lyra. Although there will be probably be only about 8 visible meteors per hour, the very thin crescent Moon does not obscure viewing.

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest objects currently in the night sky apart from the Moon, are just 21' apart on the 30th. Both are moving eastwards, with Venus catching up while the two are approaching the star Regulus in Leo. The planets have similar angular diameters at this time, around 32" each, but Venus is a crescent while Jupiter, because it is much further from the Sun than is the Earth, appears almost full. Though low in the west-north-west, they are very noticeable for about an hour from 22:30 BST.

Southern Hemisphere

The winter solstice occurs on the 22nd (New Zealand Standard Time or NZST, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time) of this month, when the southern hemisphere is at its greatest tilt away from the Sun and the hours of daylight are at their shortest. The word 'solstice' indicates that the Sun is still, because it rises and sets at its most northerly points before moving south again. Brilliant Venus and golden Jupiter appear in the north-west after sunset, getting closer together as Venus ascends and Jupiter descends in the sky. They are joined by the crescent Moon on the 20th, and by the end of the month the two planets are less than one Moon diameter apart.

The centre of the Milky Way, in the constellation of Scorpius, rises high in the sky when seen from the southern hemisphere, and is currently midway up the eastern sky in the evening. The winter constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius will dominate the night sky over the next few months. The red giant star Antares marks the heart of Scorpius, the Scorpion, and a near-vertical line of stars to its left represents the Claws. Saturn, at magnitude +0.8, is a little further left still, with an almost-full Moon passing within 1.5 degrees of it on the 2nd. Scorpius is known to Maori as Te Matau a Maui, the Fish-hook of Maui. The mythical figure Maui used this to pull a giant fish from the ocean, which became Te Ika-a-Maui, the North Island of New Zealand. Antares is called Rehua, representing a drop of blood from Maui's nose that he used as bait. Scorpius was an important navigation aid in the South Pacific, as it moves overhead and shows the directions of east and west that would bring sailors to Aoteroa (New Zealand). Below the Fish-hook, the brightest stars of Sagittarius make the shape of an upside-down Teapot, and many star clusters and nebulae line the Milky Way in this part of the sky. M7, an open star cluster visible to the naked eye, sits about halfway between the stinger of the Scorpion and the spout of the Teapot. The nearby Butterfly Cluster, M6, is a lovely sight in binoculars.

The Maori new year, Matariki, happens this month when the Pleiades star cluster, also called Matariki, rises at dawn. Scorpius is on the west-south-western horizon at this time of year, with the Fish-hook pointing upwards, and Orion the Hunter is on the opposite side of the sky, rising due east. The three stars of Orion's Belt, known as Tautoru, line the horizon, and point to Sirius on their right. Sirius is called Takarua, and is the brightest night-time star. Following the Belt left leads to the V-shaped head of Taurus the Bull, with the orange star Aldebaran marking his Eye, and then to Matariki as it rises in the east-north-east. The Pleiades disappear from the sky in April, and their reappearance in early June indicates that the new year is approaching, with the next New Moon (or, in some areas, the next Full Moon) marking the actual turn of the year. This month, the New Moon happens on the 17th. Matariki, Tautoru, Takarua and Rehua are the four points of a celestial compass used to navigate the Pacific Ocean, with Matariki and Takarua marking the extremities of the Sun's rising points, Tautoru placed at one end of the celestial equator (the star Altair being at the other) and the Sun and planets moving along the line between Matariki and Rehua. They are also the four pillars, or Pou, holding up the Sky Father, Ranginui or Rangi, in Maori lore.

The winter constellations of Orion, Taurus and Gemini are setting in the west after sunset, with Auriga close behind. Leo is higher in the sky to their left, and further over is the bright star Arcturus in Bootes. Between them, in an otherwise fairly blank part of the sky, the Realm of the Galaxies offers 18 Messier objects to telescopic observers. The Summer Triangle rises in the east later in the evening, consisting of the bright stars Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila. The constellation of Hercules is between Arcturus and Vega, and its four brightest stars make a trapezium called the Keystone. Two-thirds of the way up the Keystone's right-hand side, binoculars can locate the globular cluster M13. The asterism of the Plough is overhead, its hindmost stars, Merak and Dubhe, pointing towards Polaris in the north. Below Polaris is the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia.

The Planets

Jupiter is in the south-south-west after dark. Receding from us, its brightness declines from magnitude -2.1 to -1.9 during the month, while its angular diameter decreases from 38 to 35". It moves eastwards from Cancer towards Leo, and a telescope shows its equatorial bands, Great Red Spot and Galilean moons. From 22:00 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time) on the 20th, observers can see the shadow of the moon Ganymede passing across Jupiter, followed by the moons Callisto and Io themselves.

Saturn reaches opposition this month, when it is opposite the Sun in the sky and due south at around 01:00 BST.

Mercury passed superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 10th of April, and can be seen low in the west after sunset in early May, a few degrees from the Pleiades Cluster in Taurus. It is best seen on the 7th, 22 degrees from the Sun in the sky at eastern elongation. Its brightness falls from magnitude -0.4 at the beginning of the month to +3.0 in the middle, when it becomes lost in the Sun's glare. At the same time, its angular size grows from 6.8 to 11".

Mars may be just visible on the 1st, 9 degrees below the Pleiades Cluster and shining at magnitude +1.4, but is lost in the twilight after this. With an angular size of 3.8", it is too small for surface details to be seen.

Venus shines brilliantly in the west after sunset, climbing from Taurus into Gemini and passing the star Epsilon Geminorum on the 16th. On the way to its greatest separation from the Sun in the sky on the 6th of June, it brightens from magnitude -4.2 to -4.4 and grows from 16 to 22" during May, while its illuminated fraction drops from 67 to 53 percent.

Highlights

Saturn is well placed for observation this month, as it reaches opposition on the 23rd and is therefore visible for most of the night. The rings are inclined at 24 degrees to the line of sight, almost as visible as they can ever be. Saturn brightens to magnitude 0 during May, its brightest for 8 years, with the planet spanning 18.5" and the rings 42". Around the time of opposition, the lack of shadow on the ring system makes them appear brighter than usual, a phenomenon known as the Seeliger Effect. Saturn is moving retrograde (westwards) away from the double star Beta Scorpii and towards the constellation of Libra, which it reaches on the 12th. Unfortunately, it cannot currently be seen higher than 18 degrees above the horizon from the UK, making atmospheric scintillation a problem for viewers.

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks before dawn on the 6th. The radiant, in Aquarius, is low in the south-eastern sky, but some meteors may be spotted around 90 minutes after sunset. A waning gibbous Moon in the west may hinder the view slightly.

Southern Hemisphere

Three bright planets are visible in the early evening. Venus appears low in the north-west as the Sun sets, outshining everything except the Sun and Moon as its atmosphere reflects almost 70 percent of the sunlight that falls on it. Jupiter appears soon after Venus, just to the left of the head of Leo the Lion in the north. It sets around midnight NZST (New Zealand Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and 22:00 at the end, and is near the Moon in the sky on the 24th. Saturn rises a little later in the east, officially in Libra but close to the Claw of Scorpius and to the left of the star Antares. It is at its brightest and closest to us around the time of opposition on the 23rd, and appears high in the north at midnight. Its rings are inclined favourably for viewing, and the Moon passes within 2 degrees of it on the 6th.

On the same night, the Earth's passage through debris from Comet Halley causes the peak of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, so named because the meteors appear to radiate from a point (the radiant) near the fourth-magnitude star Eta Aquarii in Aquarius. The radiant rises around 02:00 NZST in New Zealand, and up to a meteor a minute may be spotted streaking across the sky - although the Moon will obscure the fainter ones. The more minor Alpha Scorpiid meteor shower peaks on the 13th, its radiant near to Antares and Saturn. Although visible throughout the night and largely unhindered by the thin crescent Moon, it provides no more than 5 meteors per hour.

To the lower-left of Saturn, in the constellation of Serpens, is the globular cluster M5, also called NGC 5904. At magnitude +5.7, binoculars can be used to view it, while a small telescope picks out some of its hundreds of thousands of stars. It is home to over one hundred variable stars, the brightest of which is called Variable 42 and changes from magnitude +10.6 to +12.1 and back every 26.5 days. M5 is around two-thirds of the way from the red star Antares to the orange star Arcturus in Bootes, which rises in the north-east after dark. Above Arcturus is the bright blue star Spica, in Virgo, which is actually a double.

On the opposite side of the sky, Comet C/2015 G2 (MASTER) is expected to reach a peak brightness of magnitude +5.4 on the 14th, making it easily visible in binoculars. The comet begins May in the constellation of Sculptor, resides in Fornax from the 9th to the 14th, moves through Eridanus, Lepus and Canis Major and ends the month in Monoceros. It is visible above the south-western horizon after dusk on the 14th, setting just after 21:00 NZST.

Orion is sinking in the west as darkness falls, followed by Gemini and its bright stars Castor and Pollux. Further towards the south is the faint constellation of Cancer. It contains the Beehive Cluster, an open star cluster visible in binoculars, and currently plays host to the planet Jupiter as well. Leo is due south in the evening, with its bright star Regulus. Nearby, in Virgo and Coma Bernices, is an area called the Realm of the Galaxies. In this region, an 8" telescope can pick out a number of galaxies that are part of the Virgo Cluster, the largest cluster of galaxies in our local universe and itself part of a much bigger supercluster. Higher up is Bootes, with its bright star Arcturus, and overhead is Ursa Major. Later in the night, Lyra and its bright star Vega rise in the north-east.

The Planets

Jupiter, two months past opposition (when it was opposite the Sun in the sky), is still high in the south-west in the evening. During April, it dims from magnitude -2.3 to -2.1 and shrinks from 41.5 to 38" across. As it switches from westward (retrograde) to eastward motion this month, it remains in Cancer and moves very little relative to the stars. A small telescope can reveal the equatorial bands, Great Red Spot (at certain times) and Galilean moons.

Saturn rises in the evening, a little earlier each night, and lies close to the left-hand star of the fan of Scorpius. It brightens from magnitude +0.3 to +0.1 and grows from 17.8 to 18.4" in diameter during the month. It reaches 22 degrees' elevation when due south in the early hours of the morning, and the ring system is inclined at 25 degrees to our line of sight.

Mercury reaches superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 10th, and remains invisible until around the 19th, when it appears low in the west-north-west about 45 minutes after sunset. Shining at magnitude -1.4, it climbs higher each evening on its way to eastern elongation (its furthest from the Sun in the sky) on the 7th of May.

Mars, ever-present in the evening sky for many months, is finally disappearing into the Sun's glare. Lying close to Mercury from around the 19th to 24th, it has an angular size of 4" and so reveals no surface details to us here on Earth.

Venus blazes at magnitude -4, rising higher in the evening western sky as the month progresses. It moves from Aries into Taurus on the 7th, aproaching the Pleiades Cluster around the 13th. Its angular size increases from 14 to 16" during April, as its phase wanes from 78 to 68 percent.

Highlights

Mars, Mercury and a wafer-thin crescent Moon form a near-equilateral triangle just after sunset on the 19th, with about 4-5 degrees between each of them. With the Moon under a day old and only 13.5 degrees from the Sun, it is only just visible and may require binoculars or a wide-field telescope to be seen. Look up and a little to the left of where the Sun has set, but not until the Sun really has gone down.

Southern Hemisphere

The night of the 4th-5th sees the first lunar eclipse of the year, and also the backward move of the clocks in parts of the southern hemisphere. In Wellington, New Zealand, the penumbral phase begins at 22:03 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time) as the Earth begins to obscure sunlight from the Moon's surface. The umbral phase, when sunlight is fully blocked from part of the Moon, starts at 23:17. The Moon is cast into total shadow for 7 minutes, from 00:57 to 01:04. The umbral phase ends at 02:44, while the penumbral phase finishes at 02:58 NZST (New Zealand Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time).

The Moon is in Virgo during the eclipse, about halfway between Jupiter in the north-west and Saturn in the east. Venus appears brightly in the evening, and sets 2 hours after the Sun by the end of the month. Saturn is in Scorpius, a little below the red star Antares. It rises around 22:00 NZDT at the beginning of the month and 19:00 NZST at the end.

The constellation of Centaurus is high in the east after dark, with its two brightest stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, pointing towards Crux, the Southern Cross. Centaurus is one of the largest constellations and contains many bright stars, clusters and nebulae. The globular cluster Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest in the Milky Way Galaxy, appears similar in size to the full Moon when seen with the naked eye at magnitude +3.7. Binoculars reveal individual stars and a dense core. With a population of stars that are around 12 billion years old, it is a relic of the early Universe and may be the remnant of a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way. NGC 3766 and NGC 5460 are two open star clusters in Centaurus, both just visible to the naked eye. The planetary nebula NGC 3918, the 'Blue Planetary', is also located there, and, at magnitude +8, its blue oval shape can be seen with a small telescope. Centaurus hosts one of the closest galaxy clusters to Earth. Separately, it is home to NGC 5128, the galaxy known as Centaurus A. Centaurus A is elliptical, but has a dark dust lane across the middle, and the supermassive black hole at its heart is thought to be consuming a spiral galaxy with which it has merged. As a result, it emits relativistic jets that can be detected at radio and X-ray wavelengths. Located less than 5 degrees from Omega Centauri, Centaurus A is the fifth-brightest galaxy in our sky (excluding the Milky Way) and is easily visible in binoculars. The bright central bulge and dark lane may be viewed with larger binoculars, while a telescope reveals more of the galaxy's structure.

Orion, Taurus, Gemini and Canis Major are setting in the west in the evening. Gemini is the highest of these, with its bright stars Castor and Pollux representing the Heavenly Twins. Further east is Cancer, whose Beehive Cluster can be seen with binoculars and which is currently home to the planet Jupiter. Further over still is Leo the Lion, with its bright star Regulus. Bootes, containing the star Arcturus, is rising in the east. The Plough, an asterism within Ursa Major, is high overhead, its back two stars, Merak and Dubhe, pointing towards Polaris, the North Star. Capella, the yellow star in Auriga, is also high in the sky.

The Planets

Jupiter reached opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 6th of February, and is still high in the south late in the evening. During March, it dims from magnitude -2.5 to -2.3 and shrinks from 44.5 to 41.6", as it moves retrograde (westwards) towards the Beehive Cluster in Cancer. A small telescope allows you to see the equatorial bands, the Great Red Spot (at certain times) and the four Galilean moons.

Saturn is in Scorpius, near the leftmost star of the fan representing its head, and rises at around midnight UT (Universal Time) at the end of March. It grows from 16.9 to 17.8" during the month, as it brightens in magnitude from +0.4 to +0.3. Though no higher than 22 degrees when visible in the UK and therefore subject to significant atmospheric distortion, it is high enough in the south-south-east before dawn to make out its ring system using a small telescope, as this is now some 25 degrees from our line of sight. Saturn switches from eastward to westward motion relative to the stars around the 11th.

Mercury sinks into the Sun's glare at the beginning of March, so is is not a good month to observe it.

Mars starts the month on the boundary of Pisces and Cetus, before moving eastwards and entering Aries on the 30th. It dims from magnitude +1.3 to +1.4 during March, while its disc shrinks from 4.3 to 4". It is best seen about 15 degrees above the western horizon as darkness falls. It is just 18' above Uranus on the 11th.

Venus has become an evening object, appearing higher above the horizon each night. Shining at magnitude -4, it dominates the western sky an hour after sunset. Its angular size increases from 12 to 14" over the month, and its illuminated fraction wanes from 86 to 78 percent, but it still appears blurred by atmospheric turbulence due to its relatively low elevation.

Venus and Uranus are just 6' apart in the sky on the 4th. Venus, at magnitude -4, is some 10,000 times brighter than Uranus, which requires binoculars to be seen at magnitude +5.9. In order to see the fainter object, you may need to use a telescope and eyepiece with high magnification, so that you can move Venus out of the field of view.

Southern Hemisphere

The evenings are drawing in as the autumnal equinox passes on the 21st. The summer constellations of Canis Major, Orion and Taurus are in the north-western evening sky. The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius - Takurua to Maori - is almost overhead, with Rigel and Betelgeuse below. Between them is Orion's Belt, three stars that are known as Tautoru in New Zealand. It points down through the head of Taurus the Bull, which contains the Orange star Aldebaran as the Bull's Eye. This V-shape also hosts the Hyades Cluster. For observers with binoculars or a telescope, over 100 stars brighter than 9th magnitude can be seen. Below the V and near the horizon is the Pleiades Cluster, representing the half-sisters of the Hyades in Greek mythology. Called Matariki in New Zealand, their first pre-dawn rising each June marks the Maori New Year.

The second-brightest night-time star, Canopus, is high in the south-west, with the blue star Achernar slightly below. The two of them form a near-equilateral triangle with the south celestial pole, around which the sky appears to rotate. Although this point lacks a nearby bright star, the constellation of Crux (the Southern Cross) helps to locate it. High in the south-east in the evening, Crux is accompanied by the Pointer Stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri. To find the pole, point one hand at Gamma Crucis, the star at the short end of the Cross, point the other hand at Achernar and then bring the two hands together in the middle. This should point you south.

The two dwarf galaxies known as the Magellanic Clouds are visible to the naked eye as two fuzzy patches near to the south celestial pole. Each contains billions of stars, and the Large Magellanic Cloud is the higher of the two. Binoculars or a small telescope can pick out some of its star clusters as individual patches of light within it. A bridge of gas connects it to the Small Magellanic Cloud, demonstrating tidal interaction between the two. It is easiest to spot them around New Moon on the 20th, when they are high in the south after dark.

Jupiter

Jupiter dominates the northern sky this month, setting in the north-west in the early hours of the morning. The Moon passes close by on the 3rd and 30th.

Venus appears briefly at dusk, low in the west. It sets about an hour after the Sun at the start of the month, rising to 1.5 hours by the end. In the middle of next month, it will begin to remain visible until after twilight.

Saturn rises in the east before midnight NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of March, and before 22:00 at the end. It sits just below the Claws of Scorpius the Scorpion, which is a winter constellation known as Te Matau a Maui to Maori. This represents a mythological hook that was used by Maui to catch a large fish that became the North Island of New Zealand. The red star Antares is higher and further south than Saturn, and represents the Scorpion's Heart - to Maori this is Rehua, a drop of blood from Maui's nose that he used as bait for the hook. A small telescope reveals Saturn's rings and its largest moon, Titan. Titan is the only known moon with an atmosphere, and the only body in the Solar System - apart from the Earth - with liquid lakes on its surface, although these consist of methane rather than water. Our own Moon appears close to Saturn on the 12th.

Mercury is coming to the end of its best morning apparition of the year. It rises in the east around 05:00 NZDT at the beginning of March, but becomes lost in the morning twilight by the end as it appears less than an hour before the Sun.

The constellation of Orion the Hunter is in the south in the evening, now a little towards the west. The three stars of his Belt point up towards Taurus the Bull, with its Hyades and Pleiades Clusters, and down towards Canis Major and the brightest of night stars, Sirius. Orion's top-leftmost star is the red giant Betelgeuse, and to its left are Canis Minor and the bright star Procyon. Above these stand the Gemini Twins, with the higher bright star of Castor and the lower of Pollux. Up and right of Gemini is Capella, a bright star in the constellation of Auriga, wherein binoculars also reveal the open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Leo the Lion rises in the east, and to the right of its bright star Regulus is the even brighter planet Jupiter, which outshines all the stars and other planets during the night.

The Planets

Jupiter reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 6th, and is visible almost from dusk to dawn. At a maximum brightness of magnitude -2.6, it is highest in the sky around midnight. Jupiter moves westwards in retrograde motion from Cancer into Leo on the 4th, and it shrinks slightly in angular size from 45.3 to 44.6" during the month. A telescope reveals the planet's larger moons, its equatorial bands and, at the right times, its Great Red Spot.

Saturn rises before dawn: around 03:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and 01:40 by its end. It is situated close to the leftmost star of the fan marking Scorpius' head and claws. It grows in apparent size from 16.2 to 16.9" during February, and shines at magnitude +0.5. Saturn's low elevation in the south-east - no more than 22 degrees - makes surface details fuzzy, but the ring system is visible as it has now opened out to 25 degrees from the line of sight.

Mercury reached inferior conjunction (between the Earth and the Sun) on the 30th of January, so it appears low in the south-eastern pre-dawn sky only towards the end of February. It then achieves greatest elongation (largest angular separation from the Sun in our sky) on the 24th, but binoculars (to be used only before sunrise) may still be needed to see it.

Mars is still resident in the evening sky, moving eastwards from Aquarius into Pisces on the 11th. It dims slightly from magnitude +1.2 to +1.3 over the month, while its angular size, decreasing from 4.4 to 4.3", prevents observation of surface details. It is best observed low in the southern-west as darkness falls, but sets some two hours after the Sun at month's end, and it is near to the much brighter planet Venus in the sky.

Venus sets around 90 minutes after the Sun at the start of February and has a magnitude of -3.9. It is easily visible above the south-western horizon an hour after sunset if you have a low horizon, and, although it will appear fuzzy, refraction by our atmosphere may split its light into a spectrum when viewed through binoculars or a telescope. During the month, its angular size increases from 11 to 11.6".

Highlights

Jupiter is spectacular this month, reaching 55 degrees elevation around midnight each night.

Venus and Neptune appear close togetheraround 18:00 UT in the first few days of the month. Binoculars or a small telescope are required to spot Neptune at magnitude +8. Venus is 46' to Neptune's lower left on the 1st.

Mars and Venus lie within 2 degrees of each other from the 17th to the 26th. Seen about 1 hour after sunset, Mars is 8 degrees up and to the left of Venus on the 7th. Venus then rises rapidly, and lies to Mars' left on the 26th. Their closest approach is 23' on the 22nd, when binoculars or a telescope may be needed to perceive Mars against the glare of Venus.

A thin, waxing crescent Moon is just 6 degrees to the right of Mars and Venus on the evening of the 20th.

Southern Hemisphere

Venus is stunningly bright for an hour after sunset, low in the west. Mars, though fainter, is higher up to its right at the beginning of February, but it gets lower each night until it slips into the evening twilight at the end of the month. Venus and Mars are only 0.4 degrees apart on the 22nd. Jupiter is low in the north-east in the evening, and crosses the sky just in time to set at dawn. This is because it is at opposition on the 7th, and so is on the opposite side of our sky from the Sun. As well as being due north around midnight, it means that the planet is at its closest to us and appears as big and bright as it ever can.

Jupiter lies in the constellation of Cancer, which contains just five stars that are visible to the naked eye. However, Cancer does host M44 - the Beehive Cluster - at its heart, which is to Jupiter's north. At magnitude 3.7, it is visible to the naked eye and is one of the closest open clusters to the Earth. Galileo studied it with his early telescope and found about 40 stars, and around 1000 are now known. The bright star Regulus, in Leo, is on the other side of Jupiter and marks the Lion's head and mane. Shining at magnitude 1.35, it actually comprises four stars arranged in two pairs. The double star Algieba (the Mane), below Regulus, was first split by William Herschel in 1782, and its separation of 4" is a nice challenge for modern observers with telescopes of 8 centimetres or more in aperture. Leo rises higher in the north as the night wears on, and it also contains the Leo Triplet, consisting of the interacting spiral galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628. At 35 million light-years away, these provide the opportunity to witness the gravitational dance of galaxies in the local Universe. All three show tidal disturbance, with NGC 3628 exhibiting a tidal tail 300,000 light-years long. The Leo Triplet appears near the bright star Denebola and about halfway between the stars Theta Leonis (Chertan) and Iota Leonis. While M66 is visible in large binoculars, the other two galaxies can be found using a small telescope. A group of at least eight galaxies is nearby, including M95, M96 and M105.

The constellation of Gemini is on the other side of Cancer to Leo, and its bright stars Castor and Pollux, representing the Heavenly Twins, can be seen in the north after sunset. Although Pollux appears brighter in our sky, Castor is a system of no fewer than six individual stars. Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the figure of Castor, is near to the open cluster M35. While just visible to the naked eye, this group of stars makes a lovely sight in binoculars or a wide-field telescope.

Northern Hemisphere

Orion is high in the south, pointing to other nearby constellations. Below Orion's famous Belt is his Sword, in the middle of which is the hazy glow of the Orion Nebula. This is an HII region in which stars are being born, and it is lit by the four stars of the Trapezium at its heart. Following Orion's Belt down to the left, you come to the brightest night-time star, Sirius. Following the Belt in the other direction brings you to the constellation of Taurus the Bull. The Hyades Cluster forms its head, while the red star Aldebaran represents its eye. A little further over is the Pleiades Cluster. Up to Orion's left is Gemini, the Twins, with the bright stars Castor and Pollux. Near the zenith is the yellow star Capella, in Auriga. The Milky Way runs through Auriga, giving it a number of open star clusters that can be seen with binoculars. Perseus and Cassiopeia lie north-west from here, along the Milky Way, with the Perseus Double Cluster between them. Leo the Lion rises in the east late in the evening, hosting the planet Jupiter at present.

The Planets

Jupiter, at magnitude -2.4, rises around 20:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of January and is located 8.5 degrees up and right of the star Regulus in Leo. It is moving retrograde (westward) towards Cancer, which it will reach next month, and by the end of January it rises at 17:45 and shines at magnitude -2.6. It then reaches a maximum elevation of 56 degrees when due south around 01:00. Jupiter's apparent size grows from 43.4 to 45.3" during the month, and its equatorial bands and Great Red Spot are visible to a telescope, while observing its four largest moons requires only binoculars.

Saturn rises at about 05:00 UT at the start of the month and 03:30 by its end. It moves from Libra into Scorpius on the 4th, moving above the star Antares and the head of Scorpius. It grows from 15.5 to 16.1" during January, ending the month at magnitude +0.6 and high enough in the south-east before dawn to allow a telescope to make out its rings, which are now 24 degrees to our line of sight.

Mercury is low in the south-west before dawn on New Year's Day, 3 degrees down to the right of Venus and shining at magnitude -0.8. Mercury and Venus then stay within 1 degree of each other from the 8th to the 12th. Mercury's gibbous disc is 6.5" across, and it reaches greatest eastern elongation east (its furthest from the Sun in the sky, on this occasion 19 degrees away) on the 14th. Over the following week, it wanes in phase and drops to the lower right of Venus, disappearing from view as it moves between the Earth and Sun (inferior conjunction) on the 30th.

Mars starts the month in Capricornus and moves into Aquarius on the 8th. It dims slightly from magnitude +1.1 to +1.2 during January, while its disc shrinks from 4.8 to 4.4". It is best observed as darkness falls, low above the south-western horizon, but its small size and low elevation prevent surface details from being seen. Mars lies 24 degrees up and left of Venus as the year opens, and sets around 3 hours after the Sun all month as it progresses eastwards relative to the stars.

Venus shines at magnitude -3.9 and, as the month begins, sets in the south-west just over an hour after the Sun. Its angular size increases from 10.3 to 10.8" during January; Earth's atmosphere blurs its disc, but may also split its colours to produce a spectrum that can be seen with a telescope.

The night of the 29th is a good time to observe the lunar craters Tycho and Copernicus using binoculars or a telescope. Tycho, the younger crater at around 108 million years old, is towards the bottom of the Moon in the Southern Lunar Highlands and may have been made by the impact of a Baptistina Family asteroid. It is 85 kilometres across and nearly 5 kilometres deep, and the rays of material shed by the impact can be seen arcing across the Moon's surface. Copernicus, some 800 million years old, lies in the easterly Oceanus Procellarum, beyond the end of the Apennine Mountains. It is a terraced crater, 93 kilometres wide and almost 4 kilometres deep. The Moon can be imaged very well using relatively simple equipment and processing.

Southern Hemisphere

The Earth reaches its annual perihelion (its closest to the Sun) on the 4th, but the extra solar radiation has only a small effect compared to the seasonal tilt of the planet's axis. With the summer solstice passed, the nights gradually begin to grow longer, and the Milky Way stretches across the eastern sky after dark. The brightest area is towards the Galactic centre, near the constellation of Crux, which to Maori is Te Punga, or the Anchor. Also known as the Southern Cross, Crux is near to the asterisms of the Diamond Cross and the False Cross. Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky at magnitude -0.7, sits above the Milky Way and never sets over New Zealand. It is known to Maori either as Ariki, meaning high-born, or as Atutahi, meaning stand-alone, and is considered Tapu, or sacred. Canopus is the brightest star in the constellation of Carina, the Keel, which once formed part of the great constellation of Argo Navis. This area of the sky hosts many nebulae and star clusters, including NGC 3372, the Carina Nebula. A huge cloud of glowing gas, it is one of the largest nebulae in our sky, and its bright centre is visible to the naked eye. Binoculars can pick out Eta Carinae, the golden star at the heart of the nebula, which is actually a system of two known stars. With a total combined luminosity of some five million times that of our Sun, these stars are very large, the bigger of the two barely held together by gravity as its intense radiation pushes outwards and drives a stream of material into space. Eta Carinae has changed brightness greatly over the last 350 years, varying from magnitude +4 in 1677 to -0.8 in 1843. Now back at around 4, it seems to be brightening once again, and the variation is believed to result from sudden outbursts of material.

Eta Carinae is part of the huge open star cluster Trumpler 16, which contains many young stars. The nearby open cluster Trumpler 14 is currently forming massive stars. IC 2602, known as the Theta Carinae Cluster or the Southern Pleiades, is about 4 degrees south of Carina. Home to around 60 stars and covering an area greater than that of the full Moon, its magnitude of +1.9 makes it a good target for the wide field of a pair of binoculars. NGC 2516 and NGC 3532 are other naked-eye open clusters in Carina that look spectacular in binoculars.

The Planets

Brilliant Venus follows the Sun in the sky, setting around an hour after it throughout January.

Mercury follows the Sun even more closely, and appears near to Venus in the south-western twilight for the first half of the month. It reaches eastern elongation (its greatest separation east from the Sun in the sky) on the 15th, before rapidly disappearing in the Sun's glare until next month. Due to their proximity to the Sun, Mercury and Venus never stray far from it in our sky, always appearing shortly before dawn or after nightfall.

Red Mars is above and to the right of Venus and Mercury, and approaches Venus during the month. At a present distance of around 300 million kilometres from Earth, its disc appears tiny in a telescope. It sets at about 23:30 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of January, but by the end can only just be seen only as daylight vanishes.

Jupiter becomes more prominent in the evening sky this month, rising in the east-north-east at 23:00 NZDT at the start and at 21:00 at the end.

Saturn is a pre-dawn object, but rises ever earlier in the east-south-east as January progresses.

Highlights

Comet C-2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is brightening in the southern sky. First spotted at magnitude +15 in Puppis by amateur astronomy Terry Lovejoy, it reached +6 in mid-December as it approached the Sun. Early in January, its position in the sky moves from Lepus to Eridanus and then to Triangulum, and it may just be visible to the naked eye in Taurus on the 10th, although the Moon will hamper viewing. Comet Lovejoy disappears from New Zealand's skies in mid-January as it progresses northwards.

During the later evening, the Great Square of Pegasus is setting towards the west, with the constellation of Andromeda above and to its left. The W-shape of Cassiopeia is higher still, with Perseus just below and the Perseus Double Cluster between them. Below Perseus is Auriga, containing the bright star Capella, while Orion the Hunter is rising in the south-east. The three stars of Orion's Belt point down to Sirius, the brightest night-time star. Taurus the Bull is between Orion and Perseus, hosting the open clusters of the Pleiades and Hyades, as well as the red star Aldebaran, which appears to be part of the Hyades but is actually just lying along the same line of sight from Earth. Gemini is to the left of Orion, with the stars of Castor and Pollux representing the Twins. Rising later are Cancer, home to the Beehive Cluster, and Leo, the current residence of the planet Jupiter.

The Planets

Jupiter rises around 22:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month, shining at magnitude -2.2 and positioned some 10 degrees up and right of the star Regulus in Leo. It closes to 7 degrees from Regulus on the 9th, and then begins retrograde (westward) motion across the sky. Jupiter rises around 20:00 by month's end, and has a magnitude of -2.4. It reaches a maximum elevation of 53 degrees when due south, which is at about 05:00 at the start of December and two hours earlier at the end. Its disc grows from 40 to 43" during the month, making surface features visible in a telescope.

Saturn passed behind the Sun last month, and rises an hour before the Sun at the beginning of December and three hours before it at the end. It is in Libra, above the star Antares in Scorpius, with a magnitude of +0.5. As it rises in the south-east, its ring system is visible through a telescope as it is now angled at 24 degrees to our line of sight.

Mercury passes in front of the Sun on the 8th, rendering it invisible until the very end of the month, when it may just be spotted low in the south-west after sunset. It is then 3.5 degrees to the lower right of Venus, and binoculars may be needed to see it at magnitude -0.8.

Mars moves from Sagittarius into Capricornus on the 4th. It dims from magnitude +1 to +1.1 during the month, and shrinks from 5.1 to 4.8". It is low in the south-west for around three hours after sunset, its elevation and apparent size making surface details very difficult to see.

Venus is now an evening object, setting shortly after the Sun at the start of the month and just over an hour afterwards at the end. Shining at magnitude -3.9, it should be easily visible in the south-west in late December, but low elevation and small angular size of around 10" will make its disc appear fuzzy through the Earth's atmosphere - a spectrum of colours may even be seen as it twinkles.

The Geminid meteor shower is best seen after midnight UT on the 14th and 15th. The radiant, from which the meteors appear to originate, is in the constellation of Gemini, but a third-quarter Moon will wash out fainter meteors. Unusually, the dust that produces the Geminids comes from an asteroid rather than a comet.

The Ursid meteor shower peaks around midnight UT on the night of the 22nd-23rd, with its radiant near to the star Kochab in the constellation of Ursa Minor. There may be around 10 meteors per hour, but, by coinciding with new Moon, the shower is easier to spot than in other years.

The Alpine Valley is a nice lunar feature to observe on the 13th and 29th this month, when it is close to the shadow-line (terminator) separating the Moon's day and night sides. A cleft in the Apennine Mountain chain, it is 7 miles wide and 79 miles long and has a thin rill running along it. The craters Plato and Copernicus become visible over the two nights following the Alpine Valley's appearance.

Ian highlights two pieces of freely available software that are good for making star trail images during the long nights this month: the image-stacking programme StarStaX and the photo-editing software Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Southern Hemisphere

The nights are at their shortest on the 22nd and the night sky is dominated by the constellations of Taurus, Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor. In Greek mythology, Orion the Hunter is the enemy of Scorpius the Scorpion, and so the two appear on opposite sides of the sky. The figure of Orion appears upside-down to southern hemisphere observers. The line of three stars forming his Belt are historically known in Aotearoa (New Zealand) as Tautoru, and his Sword and Belt together are sometimes seen as a pot or saucepan. Prominent in the middle of the Sword is the Orion Nebula, M42, a star formation region that looks like a fuzzy star to the naked eye but a beautiful region of nebulosity and young stars in a telescope or binoculars. At its heart is the Trapezium Cluster, a tight group of stars whose ulraviolet radiation makes the surrounding gas glow. The reflection nebula M78 can also be found in Orion using a small telescope, and the Horsehead Nebula, a dark region in the bright nebula of IC 434, lies south of the star Alnitak in Orion's Belt. The blue-white supergiant Rigel, at the top-left, is the brightest star in Orion, while the aging red giant Betelgeuse, at the bottom-right, is the second-brightest.

Following Orion's Belt to the right leads to Sirius, known to Maori as Takurua, which is the brightest star in the night sky. It is in Canis Major, the larger of Orion's two Hunting Dogs, and Canis Minor, the Smaller Dog is lower down, near the eastern horizon in the later evening. The brightest star in Canis Minor is Procyon, which is actually a binary system consisting of a main-sequence star and a white dwarf companion. To the left of Orion's Belt is the V-shape of stars representing the head and horns of Taurus the Bull. The Hyades Cluster resides here, and is one of the closest open star clusters to the Earth. Continuing around the sky, the Pleiades Cluster is another open cluster full of young, blue stars. In New Zealand it is called Matariki, meaning Little Eyes or Eyes of God, and its first pre-dawn appearance in June marks the start of the Maori year. The Milky Way stretches through these constellations and along the southern horizon, and along this line is the constellation Crux, currently low in the south-east later in the night. Beside it is the dark Coalsack Nebula, an interstellar cloud of gas and dust that obscures the stars beyond. To Maori it is Te Patiki, the Flounder.

The Planets

Mars is fairly high in the west after sunset, and this month Venus joins it, setting in the west-south-west about an hour after the Sun.

Mercury appears late in the month, just below and left of Venus. Bright, golden Jupiter rises just after 01:00 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of the month, and is up before midnight by the end.

Saturn becomes a morning object during December, rising some 2.5 hours before the Sun by the end of the month.

Highlights

The Phoenicid meteor shower peaks on the 6th, its radiant in Phoenix being quite close to the star Achernar in Eridanus and well placed all through the night for southern hemisphere observers. Unfortunately, a full Moon will hamper viewing this year.

The Geminid meteor shower is best seen after midnight on the 14th. The constellation is low in the north, even at its highest point at around 03:00 NZDT, so only around half the visible meteors can be seen from New Zealand.

The four stars of the Square of Pegasus are in the south after dark, with the Horse's head and mane to their lower right. Just beyond the head is the globular cluster M15, visible in binoculars or a telescope. Starting at Alpheratz, the top-left star of the Square, you can find M13, the Andromeda Galaxy. The W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia is almost overhead, and the V of the upper-right stars also points towards M31. Pisces is to the lower-left of Pegasus, with Aries further left still. Orion and Taurus rise higher in the sky as the night wears on, with the Pleiades Cluster climbing in the south-east and the Hyades Cluster to its lower-left. The red-orange star Aldebaran appears to be part of the Hyades, but is actually around halfway between us and the cluster. Orion is below Taurus, the three stars of his Belt pointing up towards Aldebaran and the brightest night-time star, Sirius. The lower-right star of Orion is the blue giant Rigel, while the upper-left is the red giant Betelgeuse. Coming down from Cassiopeia, along the plane of the Milky Way, you reach Perseus. It contains the Perseus Double Cluster, between Cassiopeia and the star Mirfak, and also hosts Algol, known as the Demon Star due to a periodic dip in brightness that results from the eclipse of one star by another in a binary system. Descending from Perseus, you get to the yellow star Capella in Auriga, with the three open star clusters of M38, M36 and M37 nearby. Further down is Gemini, rising in the east after nightfall, with the stars of Castor and Pollux representing the Twins and the open cluster M35 near to the feet of the figure of Castor.

The Planets

Jupiter is beginning its apparition, shining at magnitude -2.1 and rising around 23:30 UT (Universal Time) at the start of the month. It is about 10 degrees up and right of the star Regulus in Leo. By the end of November, it rises around 21:40 and has a magnitude of -2.3, reaching an elevation of 53 degrees by 05:30. Its angular has increased from 37 to 39" by this point, allowing surface details and larger moons to be seen with binoculars or a telescope.

Saturn reaches conjunction (passing behind the Sun) on the 18th, and is only just visible at the end of the month, rising an hour before the Sun.

Mercury has a good apparition in the pre-dawn sky this month, reaching greatest western elongation (its greatest separation from the Sun in our sky) at 18 degrees from the Sun on the 1st. It is then 15 degrees above the east-south-eastern horizon at sunrise, with a magnitude of -0.5, an angular diameter of 7" and a phase of around 50 percent. By the 15th, Mercury measures 5" across and is sliding back towards the horizon.

Mars is moving eastwards in Sagittarius, appearing low in the south-west after sunset. It dims from magnitude +0.9 to +1 and shrinks from 5.5 to 5.2" during the month, preventing surface details from being seen easily. It passes the globular clusters M28 on the 2nd and M22 on the 6th, and approaches M75 towards the end of the month.

Venus reached superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 26th of October, and it will be December before it truly appears as an evening object, but it may just be visible after sunset during the last week of November.

Highlights

Mercury lies above the star Spica in Virgofrom the 1st to the 8th, passing within 5 degrees on the 1st. You may need binoculars to spot them, low in the east-south-east, but don't use them after the Sun has risen.

The Moon passes just above the planet Uranus in our sky from 17:00-18:00 UT on the 4th. They are just 2' apart at 17:00 for observers in north-west England, but Uranus may be hard to spot against the twilight sky. The separation is 6' at 17:30, but the growing darkness makes for easier viewing using binoculars or a telescope. The Moon is 19' from Uranus at 18:00. It should be possible to spot the planet's turquoise colour, but making out its tiny disc, at 3.3" across, may be harder.

The Leonid meteor shower is at its best after midnight UT on the 17th and 18th, and is not spoiled by moonlight this year. Originating from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, the dust that enters the atmosphere to produce the Leonids has its radiant in the constellation of Leo, and around 12 meteors per hour may be visible at the shower's peak.

Southern Hemisphere

As Scorpius sets in the west after dark, Orion, Taurus and Canis Major rise in the east. The red star Antares, in Scorpius, is just above the south-western horizon at 23:00 NZDT. Known to Maori as Rehua, it marks one of the four Pou, or pillars, holding up the Sky Father, Ranginui. The other Pou are Matariki (the Pleiades), Tautoru (Orion's Belt) and Takurua (Sirius), and line the eastern horizon in the late evening. Their rising positions are close to those of the Sun at the winter solstice, the equinoctes and the summer solstice respectively. Stretching between Orion and Scorpius is Te Waka o Tama-rereti, a canoe represented by the tail of Scorpius (also known as Te Waka o Mairerangi) at its front and Orion's Belt (Tautoru) at its stern, with Crux (Te Punga) and the Pointer Stars (Te Taura) as its anchor and anchor line. Tama-rereti was said to have been a man who sailed across the sky in his canoe, placing the stars from his Kete (basket) into the heavens to allow navigation on Earth. He then capsized the canoe and spilled the remaining stars to form the Milky Way, or Te Ikaroa. The Maori new year is celebrated at the summer solstice, when the bright star Atutahi (Canopus), the Ariki (high chief) of the heavens, pulls up the anchor and sets the canoe in motion across the sky. Canopus is midway up the south-eastern sky in the evening in November.

A little higher and further south are two fuzzy patches of light called the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC), a pair of dwarf galaxies neighbouring the Milky Way and each containing several billion stars. The LMC is the lower of the two, and young star clusters within it may be seen as small patches of light through binoculars or a telescope. Prominent among these is the Tarantula Nebula (also called 30 Doradus or NGC 2070), an active starburst region containing over 800,000 stars and protostars. It was here that the most recent supernova visible to the naked eye on Earth, SN 1987A, occurred. The SMC appears close to the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, but is actually over ten times further away from the Earth than is the cluster. 47 Tucanae is the second-brightest globular cluster in our sky at magnitude +4.9, and is visible to the naked eye when the sky is dark. A telescope reveals a dense core of over a million stars, surrounded by a sparser sprinkling of many more.

The Planets

Mars remains visible in the western evening sky, moving through the constellation of Sagittarius and setting around midnight NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time). It is moving away from the Earth and becoming smaller in our telescopes.

Venus is just visible at the end of the month, setting 50 minutes after the Sun in the west-south-west.

Jupiter rises around 03:00 NZDT at the beginning of November, and around 01:00 by the end. Its four largest moons are visible in binoculars, orbiting around the giant planet.

Highlights

The Leonid meteor shower peaks around the 17th, with meteors appearing to radiate from the constellation of Leo, which rises about two hours before the Sun.

The constellations of Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila are almost overhead in the evening, with their bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair forming the Summer Triangle. The Square of Pegasus is to the lower left of Cygnus. If you move from its top-left to the next bright star, fork a little to another star and go the same distance again, before turning sharply right to find another star, then carrying on a little further brings you to the fuzzy glow of the Andromeda Galaxy. If you go back to the sharp right turn and carry on the same distance again, binoculars may pick up the Triangulum Galaxy as well. Andromeda can also be found by moving along the Milky Way from Deneb to the W-shape of the Cassiopeia constellation and following the V of the three highest stars like an arrow. Moving a bit further along the Milky Way, and dropping down between two stars towards Perseus, you can locate the beautiful Double Cluster.

The Planets

Jupiter, at magnitude -1.9, rises around 02:30 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time, UT) at the beginning of the month, 7 degrees to the lower left of M44, the Beehive Cluster. It passes from Cancer into Leo on the 14th. It brightens to magnitude -2 and rises well over an hour earlier by the end of the month, which seems earlier still for observers whose clocks go back at the end of October. Jupiter's disc grows from 34 to 36" during October as the Earth approaches it, and a small telescope can reveal its equatorial bands and four largest moons. The Great Red Spot is also visible at certain times, and appears to be shrinking slightly.

Saturn is past its best apparition of the year, but can still be seen 7 degrees above the south-western horizon an hour after sunset at the beginning of the month. It lies in Libra and shines at magnitude +0.6.

Mercury is well placed in the pre-dawn sky at the end of the month. On the 22nd, it has a magnitude of +2 and rises at 07:00 BST, reaching 8 degrees above the horizon by dawn and sitting 11 degrees from the Sun in our sky. Be careful not to look for it once the Sun has risen, as your eyes could be damaged. Mercury reaches western elongation (its furthest point west from the Sun in the sky) on the 1st of November, when its disc measures 7" across and is 50 percent illuminated.

Mars starts October in the often-forgotten zodiacal constellation of Ophiuchus, moving into Sagittarius on the 21st. Its magnitude dims from +0.8 to +0.9 over the month, while its angular size drops from 6 to 5.6". It sets about 2.5 hours after the Sun for the whole month, so you may be able to spot it, but it is hard to make out surface details.

Venus rises half an hour before the Sun at the start of October, shining at magnitude -3.9, but is soon lost in the morning glare and moves behind the Sun (superior conjunction) on the 25th, not to reappear for around a month.

Highlights

The planet Uranus reaches reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 7th, so it is at its closest point to the Earth and lies due south around midnight UT. At magnitude +5.9, binoculars can locate it in the southern part of Pisces, to the east of the Circlet asterism that forms the head of one of the Fish, and is 3 degrees south of the line joining the fourth-magnitude stars Epsilon and Delta Piscium. Its highest elevation is about 45 degrees, attained around midnight. A telescope of some 4.5 inches in aperture should show the planet's pale turquoise disc, 3.6" across. An 8-inch telescope may reveal cloud formations, which are currently more prominent than usual.

Jupiter is 10 degrees to the east of a waning crescent Moon in Leo an hour before sunrise on the 17th.

The Orionid meteor shower may produce up to 10 visible meteors per hour between 01:00 and 05:00 BST from the 17th to the 23rd. The radiant of the shower, which originates from Comet Halley, is to the upper left of Orion's red giant star, Betelgeuse.

Mercury lies 7.5 degrees below a thin crescent Moon half an hour before sunrise on the 22nd, but you will need a low eastern horizon to see it.

The waxing crescent Moon occults (passes in front of) Saturn from around 16:59 to 18:03 on the 25th for UK observers, with exact times varying from place to place and in other countries. It is hard to spot, coming before sunset and dropping from 12 to 6 degrees in height during the occultation. The Moon, just 3 percent illuminated, covers Saturn with its dark limb and uncovers it from its bright side.

Mars passes just 6 degrees below a thin crescent Moon an hour after sunset on the 27th.

Southern Hemisphere

The winter constellation of Scorpius (Te Matau a Maui to Maori) is dropping towards the western horizon, and sets by midnight NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time). Meanwhile, Orion is rising in the east, along with the other summer constellations of Taurus and Canis Major. Mercury can still be spotted low in the west-south-west during the first week of October, while Saturn is below Scorpius and sets around 22:00 NZDT. Mars continues to hang halfway up the western sky after dark. Comet Siding Spring C/2013 A1 passes within 138,000 kilometres of Mars on the 19th-20th, and may be visible in binoculars from Earth. Approaching Mars from above as seen from the southern hemisphere, it is 4.4 degrees away on the 15th, then passes beneath it and moves to the lower left of the globular cluster NGC 6401 on the 20th. Uranus is in Pisces, to the north-east, and Neptune is in Aquarius, higher in the north, but neither can be seen with the naked eye. Jupiter is the brightest planet currently in the sky, and rises in the north-east around 04:30 NZDT at the beginning of the month, its largest moons visible in binoculars.

Pegasus, the Winged Horse, straddles the northern horizon in the evening. Identified by a large square of stars, its brightest member is the orange supergiant Epsilon Pegasi, or Enif, named after the Arabic word for the Horse's nose. Nearby is the M15, which may be the densest globular cluster in our Galaxy. With a magnitude of +6.2, it appears as a fuzzy glow in binoculars, while a telescope can pick out chains of stars radiating out from the core. M15 also contains the planetary nebula Pease 1, the first such object to be found within a globular cluster. At magnitude +15.5, a telescope of 30 centimetres in aperture is required to see it. Alpheratz, the star at the bottom of the Great Square of Pegasus, is a great place from which to star-hop to the Andromeda Galaxy, which appears near the northern horizon in southern hemisphere skies only at this time of year. To find it, move along the uppermost of two chains of stars that extend east from Alpheratz, pass Delta Andromedae, turn sharp right at Mirach, carry on to Mu Andromedae and then go the same distance again to the galaxy. At 2.5 million light-years' distance, it is the most distant object normally visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Highlights

The full Moon provides a total lunar eclipse over much of the Earth on the night of the 8th-9th, beginning some two hours after moonrise for observers in New Zealand. As the Moon moves through the Earth's shadow, a penumbral phase (beginning around 21:15 NZDT) is seen when the Earth blocks only part of the Sun's light, an umbral phase (around 22:14) follows when the centre of the Earth begins to cast its shadow, and totality (23:25 to 00:24) occurs when the Earth puts the Moon into full darkness. Even then, refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere gives the Moon a red tint.

The zodiacal light can be spotted this month, making a triangular glow in the western sky after sunset. Caused by the reflection of sunlight by dust in the plane of our Solar System, this weak glow requires a dark, clear sky in order to be seen. It appears in the zodiacal constellations because it lies around the ecliptic, and the steep angle of the ecliptic at this time of year pushes it higher into the sky. The time around new Moon, on the 24th, is best for observing it.

The Summer Triangle consisting of the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair is still high in the sky. The asterism of the Northern Cross, near to Deneb, contains the multicoloured double star Albireo. Another double star, Epsilon Lyrae, can be found using binoculars near to Vega, and a telescope reveals that it is itself a pair of doubles. The constellation of Delphinus is below the Summer Triangle, with Aquarius and Capricornus further down still. The Square of Pegasus rises in the east as the evening progresses, and following the arc of the head of Pegasus leads to the globular cluster M15, while the top-left corner of the Square (or, alternatively, the topmost stars of Cassiopeia) can be used to locate the Andromeda Galaxy. Perseus is in the north-east, below Cassiopeia, and binoculars show that the Double Cluster, a pair of open star clusters, lies between them.

The Planets

Jupiter, shining at magnitude -1.8, begins September 2.5 degrees from M44, the Beehive Cluster. It is moving through Cancer towards Leo, rising 2.5 hours before the Sun at the start of the month and 4.5 hours before it at the end. Jupiter's disc grows from 32.1 to 33.6" in angular diameter over the month, allowing the equatorial bands and Galilean moons to be seen.

Saturn, at magnitude +0.6 and 16" across, can be seen low in the south-west after sunset, lying in Libra. It is 20 degrees above the horizon an hour after sunset at the beginning of the month, dropping to 10 degrees by the end, and will soon disappear behind the Sun. Saturn's rings are inclined at 23 degrees to the line of sight, giving a good view, and the planet's largest moon, Titan, should be visible through a telescope.

Mercury is not readily visible this month, due to its low elevation. It may be spotted around the 20th of the month using binoculars - after the Sun has set - some 5-10 degrees above the horizon and around 25 degrees to the left of where the Sun has gone down, shining at magnitude 0. Mercury is just 0.5 degrees below the first-magnitude star Spica, in Virgo, on the 20th.

Mars moves quickly eastwards, progressing from Libra into Scorpius and ending the month close to the red star Antares. During September, it dims from +0.6 to +0.8 in magnitude and shrinks from 6.8 to 6.1" across. It is low in the south-west at sunset, with the Earth's atmosphere making it difficult to see surface details. Mars lies halfway between Saturn and Antares on the 12th, and 0.5 degrees above Delta Scorpii on the 17th.

Venus rises in the east-north-east an hour before sunrise at the beginning of September, and only half an hour before it at the end. It can be seen in Leo early in the month, positioned to the lower left of Jupiter and shining at magnitude -3.9.

Highlights

Neptune can be spotted using binoculars or a small telescope this month, sitting in Aquarius with a magnitude of +7.9. It reaches an elevation of 27 degrees when due south, shortly after midnight BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time). A telescope of 8" in aperture should be able to pick out its largest moon, Triton.

The Alpine Valley is a nice feature of the Moon to observe on the 2nd and 14th, when it is close to the limb. It lies in the Apennine mountain chain that marks the edge of the Mare Imbrium, and a thin rill can be seen running along it using a medium-sized telescope. The craters Plato and Copernicus appear well around the same dates.

Southern Hemisphere

The spring equinox arrives this month, so the nights are rapidly getting shorter. The bright stars Vega and Canopus mark the northern and southern horizons at dusk, with the band of the Milky Way passing overhead between them. Vega is part of the Winter Triangle, along with Deneb and Altair. Between Vega and Altair is the lovely double star Albireo, marking the beak of Cygnus the Swan. The winter constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius are sliding towards the western horizon night by night, with Orion rising opposite them as they set. Between them are Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces.

Capricornus, often depicted as a cross between a goat and a fish, appears as an elongated triangle of stars, while a smaller triangle marks its head and horns. Its brightest star is Delta Capricorni or Deneb Algedi, and it changes significantly in brightness because it is an eclipsing binary, in which two stars partially block one another from our view as they orbit. The system is now known to contain four stars. Alpha Capricorni, or Algedi, is a double star whose members can just be distinguished with the naked eye, but the two stars are not in a binary system as they are at very different distances from us. The watery constellations in this part of the sky are associated with autumn and winter rains in the northern hemisphere, and to the south-east of Capricornus is Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. The bright star Fomalhaut, marking its mouth, has a planetary companion that was directly imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.

The constellation of Aquarius the Water-carrier, lying between Fomalhaut and Altair, contains a number of beautiful deep-sky objects. M2 is a globular cluster near to the third-magnitude star Beta Aquarii. Visible in binoculars, a telescope of 20 centimetres in aperture shows up individual stars. The Helix Nebula, or NGC 7293, is a planetary nebula positioned south-west of Delta Aquarii that appears as a hazy circle in binoculars. A telescope reveals the darker area in the centre, while a long-exposure photograph brings out the nebula's colours. Pisces, Cetus and Delphinus are more water-themed constellations in this area of the sky.

The Planets

Mars and Saturn are about halfway up the north-western sky in the evening at the beginning of the month, and are joined by a crescent Moon on the 1st. Saturn is sliding towards the western horizon, but Mars moves east on its faster orbit and, at the end of the month, passes close to its namesake, the red star Antares - the 'Rival of Mars'.

Mercury makes its best appearance of the year this month, joining Mars and Saturn in the western sky after dark. Its fast, close orbit means it never gets far from the Sun in our sky, but it reaches eastern elongation - its greatest separation to the east - on the 22nd. Mercury passes close to the star Spica, in Virgo, on the 20th.

Jupiter shines brightly in the north-east in the morning, rising around 1.5 hours before the Sun by the middle of September. Binoculars or a telescope show its four largest moons.

Highlights

The last of three 'supermoons' of 2014 occurs on the 9th, when the Moon is almost full at its closest approach to the Earth and looks bigger and brighter than usual.

High in the south in the evening is the Summer Triangle of Deneb in Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila, with the four brightest stars in Cygnus forming the asterism of the Northern Cross. The small constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin lies below Cygnus. The Great Square of Pegasus is rising in the east, and its top-left star, Alpheratz, can be used to locate the Andromeda Galaxy. Starting there, move left to the next bright star, curve up and right to another, go sharp right one more star, then move the same distance again to find our nearest neighbouring large galaxy, once known as the Great Nebula in Andromeda. Cassiopeia is high in the north, above Perseus and its bright star Mirfak, with the Perseus Double Cluster between the two constellations.

The Planets

Jupiter reached superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 24th of July, so it only becomes visible in the middle of August, low in the east-north-east before dawn and shining at magnitude -1.8. By month's end, it is 20 degrees above the horizon at 05:30 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time). With a disc 32" across, a small telescope can be used to observe the equatorial belts and the accompanying Galilean moons. Jupiter lies within 4 degrees of Venus from the 14th to the 21st.

Saturn is in Libra, near the double star Alpha Librae. Its brightness declines from magnitude +0.5 to +0.6 during the month. It is 20 degrees above the horizon at sunset, and a telescope reveals its 17" disc, ring system and largest moon, Titan.

Mercury is so low above the horizon at nightfall that it is very difficult to spot this month.

Mars begins August between the stars Spica and Alpha Librae, and moves from Virgo into Libra on the 10th. Its apparent size shrinks from 7.7 to 7" during the month, while it dims from magnitude +0.4 to +0.6. Its low elevation as darkness falls makes it difficult to observe surface details through a telescope, due to atmospheric scintillation.

Venus rises in the east-north-east before dawn, reaching 20 degrees above the horizon by sunrise on the 1st. Its angular size drops from 10.7 to 10.2" over the course of the month, but its percentage illumination increases from 82 to 97 percent as it moves towards the far side of the Sun from our perspective, so its brightness remains at magnitude -3.8 all month. Venus moves from Gemini into Cancer on the 11th, and then into Leo on the 27th, by which time it is only 14 degrees above the horizon at sunrise.

Neptune can be found using binoculars or a small telescope this month. It is at opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky and near its closest approach to Earth) on the 29th and has a magnitude of +7.9, lying in Aquarius and reaching a maximum elevation of 27 degrees around 01:00 BST. A telescope of 8 inches or more in aperture may reveal Neptune's largest moon, Triton.

The Moon, Mars and Saturn are close together in the sky an hour after sunset on the 3rd, low in the south-south-west after sunset.

The Moon makes a close approach to the Earth just as it becomes full at around 19:00 BST on the 10th. It rises at 20:15 BST, and is about as large in angular size as it ever appears on Earth, leading to the name of 'megamoon'.

The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its maximum this month, although the nearly-full Moon hampers viewing. Rising in the north-east, its radiant in Perseus is highest in the east and most active before dawn on the 12th and 13th as the Earth passes through the debris of Comet Tempel-Tuttle.

Venus and Jupiter are just 12' apart in the east-north-east just before dawn on the 18th, and the open cluster M44 - also known as the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe - is just a couple of degrees away from them. You need a low horizon to see them, as they are just 5 degrees above the horizon at 05:00 BST.

Venus, Jupiter and a waning crescent Moon appear together an hour before sunrise on the 23rd, but require a low eastern horizon to be visible.

Southern Hemisphere

This month sees Scorpius and Sagittarius high overhead in the evening sky. Scorpius, a winter constellation, is easy to spot by its orange star Antares, which lies just east of the zenith. A curve of bright stars stretches out towards the right, forming his tail. Antares is a red supergiant star with a radius more than 800 times that of the Sun. To Maori, this group of stars is known as Te Matau a Maui: the fish-hook of Maui. Maui used this hook to pull a great fish out of the ocean which became the north island of New Zealand: Te Ika-a-Maui. The red star is known as Rehua, and represents a drop of blood that Maui took from his nose to use as bait. Below Scorpius is an upside-down teapot shape formed from the brightest stars in Sagittarius. The broadest and brightest part of the Milky Way lies towards Scorpius and Sagittarius, high in our eastern evening sky.

The centre of the Milky Way provides a whole assortment of stunning nebulae and star clusters to observe. Lying along the tail of the Scorpion is NGC 6231, a bright cluster of stars which looks like a small comet. Estimated to be only 3.2 million years old and nearly 6,000 light-years away, if the cluster were placed at the same distance as the Pleiades then some of its stars would be amongst the brightest in the night time sky. About halfway between the Scorpion's sting and the spout of the Teapot is M7. This is an open cluster of stars easily visible to the naked eye, and a lovely sight through a good pair of binoculars. Nearby and somewhat fainter, M6, the Butterfly cluster, is also well worth a look in binoculars. To the left of the Teapot's spout, and just about visible to the naked eye, is the Lagoon Nebula, or M8. This is a huge cloud of interstellar gas and dust where new stars are being formed, and where their ultraviolet radiation causes leftover hydrogen gas to glow. Along with the nearby Trifid Nebula (M20), the Lagoon Nebula is a good target for binoculars or a small telescope. The Trifid nebula combines emission and reflection nebulae with an open cluster of stars. This part of the sky also contains a number of globular clusters, each hosting hundreds of thousands of ancient stars that date back more than 12 billion years. Over 150 globular clusters are found in the halo of the Milky Way, and their distribution provided early evidence of the scale of the Milky Way and our position within it. The brightest globular cluster is M4, and this is also one of the easiest to find as it lies just 1.3 degrees west of Antares. Appearing as a small fuzzy ball in binoculars and small telescope, a slightly larger telescope will begin to pick out individual stars. Also in this region, near the top of the Teapot, is M22, one of the closest globular clusters to us at distance of around 10,000 light-years.

From its bright centre in Sagittarius, the Milky Way stretches out from east to west in the early evening. Along its path are found the majority of the bright stars in our night-time sky. In the north, just to the left of the Milky Way, is the bright star Vega, which forms part of the constellation of Lyra the Lyre. Opposite, in the southern sky, the second brightest night-time star, Canopus, can be found in the constellation of Carina. To Maori in Aotearoa (New Zealand), this star is Atutahi or Ao-tahi, which means 'to stand alone'. Running back along the Milky Way towards Scorpius, we pass the False and Diamond Crosses before arriving at Crux, the Southern Cross. The smallest of the 88 official constellations, it has the appearance of a diamond shape of four bright stars along with a fifth fainter star. It is known to Maori as Te Punga, the anchor of Tama-reriti's Waka. Alpha Crucis appears to the unaided eye as a single star of magnitude 0.9, but small telescopes reveal it to be a double star with blue-white components of magnitudes 1.4 and 1.9. Nearby is NGC 4755, an open cluster of stars also known the Jewel Box. It is rich and bright with stars, showing delicate colours accentuated by an orange-red supergiant. It can easily be seen with the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes reveal much more detail. Just to one side is a dark patch known as the Coalsack Nebula. This is a cloud of interstellar dust and gas that obscures the light from more distant stars, appearing as a darkened area against the bright backdrop of the Milky Way. To Maori it is known as Te Patiki or the Flounder. East of Crux are the two bright pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, marking the front hooves of Centaurus the Centaur. The brightness and number of stars rapidly drops off when we look away from the path of the Milky Way, and after sunset the constellations of Virgo and Corvus can be seen to its west.

The Planets

Mars and Saturn sit near to Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, with the orange star Arcturus below. Mars and Arcturus have red hues, while Spica is a brilliant blue-white and Saturn is yellow. Mars and Saturn are at their closest on the 25th. Small telescopes reveal the Saturn's rings and its largest moon, Titan, looking like a small star around four ring diameters away from the planet. More powerful telescopes should reveal faint banding in the Saturn's atmosphere, along with gaps and colour variation in the rings, as well a number of smaller moons. Mars appears as a small, red disc, and is getting fainter as we move away from it on our faster inner orbit.

Also in the western sky is the planet Mercury, climbing higher as the month progresses and setting 1.5 hours after the Sun by month's end. It is close to the crescent Moon the 27th.

Brilliant Venus and Jupiter appear in the morning sky and are at their closest on the 18th, when there will be less than the diameter of the full Moon between them.

The star Arcturus, in the constellation of Bootes, is setting in the west around midnight. The circlet of stars called Corona Borealis is up to its left, with Hercules higher up still. Continuing around the sky, the bright star Vega appears in Lyra the Lyre. Deneb, in Cygnus the Swan, is up to its left, and the five brightest stars of Cygnus can be seen to form a cross known as the Northern Cross. The lowest and faintest of these, Albireo, is revealed to be a double star of blue and gold colours when observed with a telescope. Coming down through the constellations of Vulpecula and Sagitta, we reach Aquila the Eagle and its bright star, Altair. The three stars of Vega, Deneb and Altair comprise the Summer Triangle. Below this, in the constellations of Serpens Caput, Ophiuchus and Serpens Cauda, Sagittarius is lying in the south. It contains the asterism of the Teapot, which is home to many star clusters and nebulae. The tiny constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin is to the lower left of Cygnus and Lyra.

The Planets

Jupiter reaches conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 24th, and so is only visible for the first week of July, low in the west.

Saturn is in Libra, near the wide double star Alpha Librae. It dims from +0.4 to +0.5 during the month, and reverses direction as its retrograde (westward) motion ends on the 21st. The rings are at 21 degrees to the line of sight, but the planet remains at a low elevation for northern hemisphere observers.

Mercury appears before dawn, lying to the lower left of Venus for much of the month. It reaches western elongation (furthest from the Sun in the sky) on the 12th, when it has a magnitude of +0.4 and a presents a half-full disc. It appears lower in the east at dawn later in July, but brightens to magnitude -1.4 by month's end.

Mars lies close to the star Spica, in Virgo, and is just 1.3 degrees away on the 13th. It shrinks from 9.5 to 7.9" in angular diameter during July, and dims from magnitude 0 to +0.4. It is already low in the west at nightfall, but larger surface features, such as Syrtis Major, may be spotted through a telescope.

Venus rises in the east-north-east at morning twilight, and is 20 degrees above the horizon at sunrise. It decreases in angular size from 12 to 11" over the month as it moves away from the Sun, but the illumination of its gibbous disc increases from 85 to 92 percent over the same period, so its brightness drops only slightly, from magnitude -0.9 to -0.8. Venus is close to Aldebaran, in Taurus, in the first few days of the month.

Highlights

Saturn is still nice to observe this month. It can be found by following the Plough's handle down past Arcturus to the bright white star Spica, then looking for the slightly brighter, yellower object to its lower left.

The globular cluster M13 is high in the sky this month. It is two-thirds of the way up the right-hand side of the Keystone asterism in Hercules, appearing as a fuzzy glow in binoculars and a spherical concentration of stars in a telescope. Nearby, the multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae is to the left of Vega in Lyra. It looks like a double star in binoculars, but a telescope shows a pair of doubles, giving rise to the nickname of the Double Double.

Noctilucent clouds may be observed early in the month. They can be seen in the north during deep twilight and are 80 kilometres above the Earth, allowing them to be illuminated by the already-set Sun while lower clouds are in shadow.

The two brightest asteroids, Vesta and Ceres, can be found using binoculars after sunset on the 5th and 6th. They are only 10' apart in Virgo and have magnitudes of +7.2 and +8.5 respectively, the former being smaller but also closer and more reflective.

Leo is setting in the west as it gets dark, while in the south is Bootes, with its bright star Arcturus. Rising in the east is the Summer Triangle, consisting of the stars Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila. A third of the way from Altair towards Vega is the asterism of Brocchi's Cluster, or the Coathanger, in front of the Cygnus Rift. Delphinus the Dolphin lies below it. Ursa Major is high in the north-west and contains the famous asterism of the Plough, with the stars Merak and Dubhe pointing towards Polaris, the North Star. In the middle of the Plough's handle is a double star, known as Mizar and Alcor, and Mizar itself can be seen to be a double star through a telescope.

The Planets

Jupiter sets nearly three hours after sunset at the beginning of June. It fades from magnitude -1.9 to -1.8 during the month, and shrinks from 33 to 32" in angular diameter. By month's end, it is low down at sunset and lies almost on the line between the stars Castor and Pollux. The Galilean moons are still visible using a small telescope, but surface details on the planet are harder to spot due to atmospheric scintillation.

Saturn lies in Libra, between the stars Spica and Antares. It dims from magnitude +0.2 to +0.4 during the month and is about 18" across. It is moving retrograde (westward) across the sky towards the double star Alpha Librae, lying 2.5 degrees away from it at the end of June. Saturn's rings are about 40" across and are inclined at 21 degrees to the line of sight, making the major divisions between the rings visible to small telescopes, but viewing is slightly hampered by the planet's low elevation.

Mercury can be observed low in the west-north-west shortly after sunset at the beginning of the month, but it fades from magnitude +1.2 to +3.4 by the 11th and is lost in inferior conjunction (between the Earth and the Sun) by the 19th.

Mars Is receding rapidly, dimming from -0.5 to 0 in magnitude and shrinking from 11.8 to 9.5" in angular size during June. It starts the month 2.5 degrees from the star Porrima and ends it 3.5 degrees from Spica, moving through the constellation of Virgo. Mars is at its highest at sunset, giving the last chance of the current apparition to observe features on its surface.

Venus starts the month shining at magnitude -3.9, moving quickly through the lower part of Aries. It then enters Taurus and passes between the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters on the 28th, ending the month 3.5 degrees from the star Aldebaran. The planet is low on the eastern horizon just before dawn, showing a gibbous phase and decreasing from 14 to 12" in size during June. Over the same period, its fractional illumination increases from 77 to 85 percent, keeping its brightness almost constant.

Highlights

Saturn is well placed for observation this month. It is at its height soon after dark. To find it, follow the Plough's handle down past red Arcturus to white Spica. Saturn is the yellowish object to Spica's lower left. A magnitude 8.2, Titan - Saturn's largest moon - can be seen. A larger telescope shows the distinction between the planet's A, B and C rings.

This month is a good time to observe the globular cluster M13 in Hercules and the 'double double' star in Lyra. Hercules is between the bright stars Arcturus and Vega, and its four brightest stars make a trapezium called the Keystone. M13 is two-thirds of the way up its right-hand side, and is the brightest globular cluster in the northern hemisphere sky. The double double, Epsilon Lyrae, is to the left of Vega, showing two stars in binoculars but four when viewed through a telescope.

Noctilucent clouds may be spotted towards the end of June. They are the highest clouds in the atmosphere at around 80 kilometres above the Earth, and can be seen towards the north during late twilight. Normally too faint to see, sunlight shining from below the northern horizon can render them visible around midsummer, just when the lower part of the atmosphere goes into shadow. Noctilucent clouds seem to be getting bigger, brighter and more common, but their cause is unclear.

Southern Hemisphere

Jupiter is visible in the west after sunset for the first half of the month, before disappearing into the twilight. Sirius, the brightest night-time star, is can be seen in the same part of the sky in the evening, and again in the south-east before dawn. The zodiacal constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius dominate the south-eastern sky in the evening, the red star Antares - meaning 'Rival of Mars' - marking the Scorpion's heart. To Maori and some Polynesian cultures, Scorpius is a fishing hook and Antares is the eye of the hook, stained with the blood of the mythical hero Maui. Binoculars or a telescope show many star clusters and nebulae in this region of the sky. The globular clusters M4 and NGC 6144 appear close to Antares, while a number of double stars can be seen along the body of the Scorpion with the unaided eye. The open cluster NGC 6231 is near the Scorpion's stinger, as is M7, and both can be seen as hazy glows with the naked eye under a dark sky. M6, the Butterfly Cluster, is not far away, a telescope revealing an elongated cluster of stars forming its wings. The constellation of Sagittarius the Archer is also rich in objects. Its brightest stars are known as the Teapot, near the top of which is the bright globular cluster M22.

Two of the most spectacular night sky sights are M8, the Lagoon Nebula, and M20, the Trifid Nebula. M8 is a compact cluster surrounded by a halo of nebulosity containing a dark rift, and is dominated on its western side by two sixth-magnitude stars. M20 is nebulous, with the dark lanes that split it into three sections discernible using a telescope of 200 millimetres or more in aperture. Its pink and blue colours can be seen in long-exposure photographs. It is also worth finding M23, an open cluster containing arcs and chains of stars, M24, a bright cloud of stars interspersed with dark nebulae, M25, an open cluster hosting several deep yellow stars, and M55, an open cluster of magnitude 7.4.

The Milky Way is at its brightest, widest and deepest around Scorpius and Sagittarius. It is Al Nahr (the River) to Arabs, the River of Heaven to Chinese and Te Ikaroa (the Long Fish) to Maori. The centre of the Milky Way galaxy is in the direction of Sagittarius, and its dark lanes are dust and gas that may one day form new stars. A scan along it, towards Crux and Carina in the west, reveals more star clusters and glowing clouds of gas. The Magellanic Clouds can be seen low in the south on a moonless night, and are small galaxies not far outside our own.

The planet Saturn is towards the north in the evening, in front of the stars of Libra, and Mars can be seen in a nearby part of the sky. Saturn is fading and shrinking as it recedes from us, but a small telescope can still pick out the disc of the planet, as well as its rings and its largest moon, Titan. Venus rises around 05:00 NZST (New Zealand Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and around 06:00 by the end, appearing as a brilliant morning star. Venus is directly above Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster) in mid-June. The heliacal (dawn) rising of Matariki and Puanga (the star Rigel) on the 21st marks the winter solstice, when the Sun rises and sets at its most northerly points, and is the start of the new year for Maori in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Gemini is setting in the west as twilight ends, with Canis Minor and its bright star Procyon to its lower left. Cancer is further to the south, with the Beehive Cluster at its heart. Leo the Lion is even further round, with the star Regulus and some galaxies nearby that are visible with binoculars or a small telescope. Over to the east is Bootes and the star Arcturus, with Corona Borealis beside them. Continuing to move around the sky, the four stars of the Keystone in Hercules can be found, and the globular cluster M13 is two-thirds of the way up its right-hand side. The summer constellations are rising in the north-east, with the stars Vega in Lyra and Deneb in Cygnus. To the south-east, below Bootes, are Virgo and the bright star Spica, as well as Libra, Serpens Caput and the zodiacal constellation of Ophiuchus.

The Planets

Jupiter is still at 45 degrees' elevation in the west at sunset at the beginning of May, setting around 01:00 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time). It dims from -2.0 to -1.9 in magnitude during the month, while shrinking from 35 to 33" in angular diameter. It is only 20 degrees above the horizon at sunset by month's end, and sets at around 23:00 BST (although you may see it for up to an hour longer if you have a very low north-western horizon). Jupiter lies in Gemini, moving from beside the fourth-magnitude star Mekbuda towards the bright stars Castor and Pollux, and passing Wasat on the way. You can see the Galilean moons with binoculars, and the Great Red Spot at certain times with a telescope, with the best chance to observe coming early in the month.

Saturn reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 10th, so it is in the sky all night. It shines at magnitude +0.1 quite low down in Libra, and its disc is 18.6" in diameter. It is moving west (retrograde) towards the star Alpha Librae. The rings are now 22 degrees from the line of sight and about 43" across, so a small telescope can pick out Cassini's Division.

Mars is receding from us and dims from -1.2 to -0.5 this month, while shrinking from 14.5 to 11.8" in angular size. It moves little in the sky during May because its retrograde motion ends midway through the month, and it lies close to the star Porrima in Virgo. Mars is best seen early in the month, at around 23:00 BST.

Mercury has its best apparition of the year this month. It is low in the evening twilight as May begins, but rises higher each evening, appearing 15 degrees above the horizon at sunset in the second half of the month. It reaches elongation (its furthest from the Sun in the sky) on the 25th, shining at magnitude +0.4 and presenting a crescent disc 8" across and 40 percent illuminated. It is visible for 2 hours after sunset at this point, but by the end of May it is only 5 degrees above the horizon 1 hour after sunset, with a brightness of magnitude +1.2.

Venus lies in Pisces and shines at magnitude -4. It is some 12 degrees above the eastern horizon half an hour before sunrise. Its gibbous disc drops from 17 to 15" in angular size this month, but its illuminated fraction increases from 67 to 77 percent, keeping its brightness almost constant.

Highlights

It is a good time to observe Mars this month as it appears larger than usual in the sky.

It is also a good time to observe Saturn this month, since it, too, appears large in the sky and is up throughout the night. It can be located by following the arc of the Plough's handle towards orange Arcturus, then continuing the curve down to white Spica, and finally looking for the slightly brighter yellow object to it's lower left - this is Saturn. As well as its ring system, binoculars or a small telescope allow you to spot its largest moon, Titan, at magnitude 8.2.

Jupiter is coming to the end of its current apparition, but can still be easily seen this month. It is high in the sky just after sunset, allowing surface features to be seen with a telescope.

Southern Hemisphere

Orion the Hunter is low in the west, with three stars forming his Belt. To Maori, they form part of the Bird Snare. The blue star Rigel marks one of Orion's feet, while red Betelgeuse forms one of his shoulders. Above the Belt are the three stars of Orion's Sword, the middle member of which is actually the Orion Nebula. Slightly fuzzy to the naked eye, it is a bat-shaped cloud in binoculars or a small telescope and can be seen to be a beautiful star-forming region with a large telescope. The Belt and Sword are sometimes described as the Pot or the Saucepan by southern hemisphere observers. Following Orion is Canis Major, one of his hunting dogs, with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, forming its head. It is commonly known as the Dog Star, but to Maori it is Takarua, the Winter Star, and in Ancient Egypt it was called Sothis, and heralded the annual flooding of the River Nile. Procyon, the brightest start in Canis Minor, is lower down. Both Sirius and Procyon have faint white dwarf companions, but these are not easily observed. Following a line from Rigel through Betelgeuse leads to the planet Jupiter, near to Castor and Pollux, the heads of the Gemini Twins. Bands and belts on Jupiter's surface can be seen on a dark night using a telescope, while binoculars show its four largest moons.

The constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius are rising in the east in the evening, reaching high into the sky later and showing off many beautiful objects. Crux, the Southern Cross, is high overhead after sunset, and near the star Beta Crucis is a star cluster called the Jewel Box, which appears as a hazy star to the unaided eye and as a pretty group of stars in binoculars or a telescope. Between Crux and Sirius, Carina the Keel and Vela the Sails sit along the Milky Way and contain the asterisms of the False and Diamond Crosses. They contain a wealth of bright stars, clusters and nebulae, many of which can be observed with no equipment. The Carina Nebula is the brightest of these, and appears larger than the Orion Nebula. Binoculars reveal its bright star clusters and glowing clouds of gas, intertwined with dark lanes. Within it, the star Eta Carinae is bright and orange.

The planets Mars and Saturn are in the north and east respectively after sunset. Mars is in Virgo, near the blue-white star Spica, and is now receding from the Earth and shrinking in apparent size. Lying away from the Milky Way, Many galaxies can be spotted in Virgo using a medium-sized telescope. Saturn is a yellowish object in Libra the Scales. It reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 10th, and is occulted by the nearly-full Moon for observers in New Zealand and Australia at around midnight NZST (New Zealand Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time) on the night of the 14th-15th. The event is visible to the unaided eye, but its progress will be spectacular when viewed through binoculars.

Autumn is a prime time to observe the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights. Caused by the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's atmosphere, the phenomenon can sometimes be seen from southerly parts of New Zealand, Australia and South America, consisting of a red glow, or even moving sheets of red and green light, on the southern horizon. With a high level of activity on the Sun so far this year, it is worth checking the several websites on which you can find current information and short-term forecasts of aurorae.

The planet Venus is in the morning sky, but rises later each day as it moves closer to the Sun from our perspective.

The constellation of Gemini and the planet Jupiter are setting in the west as the Sun goes down. Leo, with its bright star Regulus, is in the south, and to the left of Regulus are the galaxies M95, M96, M66 and M65, which are visible in binoculars or a small telescope. To the left of Leo, more such objects can be found in a region between Coma Berenices and Virgo known as the Realm of the Galaxies, which looks towards the Virgo Cluster. The bright star Arcturus is to the south-east, in Bootes, with the circlet of stars called Corona Borealis to its left. The bright star Vega rises in the north-east later in the evening, in Lyra, followed by Cygnus and the Milky Way. Ursa Major is almost overhead, containing the famous asterism of the Plough, or Big Dipper. If you look diagonally up the trapezium-shaped part of the Plough from bottom-left to top-right, and then carry on for the same distance again, you reach the galaxies of M82 and M81. M82, nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy, is a starburst galaxy where many new stars and supernovae can be seen. The middle star of the Plough's handle is actually a double, with two components called Mizar and Alcor, or the Horse and Rider. A telescope shows that Mizar is itself a double star, and another, reddish star appears in the same field of view.

The Planets

Jupiter is a little past the best of its current apparition, but is still high in the sky just after nightfall, shining at magnitude -2.2 at the beginning of the month. Its angular size reduces from 38 to 35" during April, but you can still see the Galilean moons and, when the seeing is good, the Great Red Spot at certain times.

Saturn is coming to the best of its apparition, rising at 22:30 UT (Universal Time) at the start of the month and 20:30 UT at its end. It has a magnitude of about +0.1 and moves retrograde through Libra, its angular diameter increasing from 18.2 to 18.6" during April. Its rings are now at 22 degrees to the line of sight and span 40" across, allowing a small telescope to pick out the Cassini Division in good seeing conditions. Unfortunately, Saturn does not currently rise very high in the sky for northern hemisphere observers.

Mars is in Virgo and reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 8th, so it is visible throughout the night and reaches its highest point in the sky at about 02:00 BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time) at the start of the month and 23:00 BST at the end. Mars is at its brightest, around magnitude -1.5, in the second week of April, and comes closest to Earth in its current orbit on the 14th, when it is just over 15" in angular diameter. The surface is about 91 percent illuminated, and features can be seen with a small telescope. The planet moves retrograde and approaches the bright star Porrima.

Mercury is just visible above the eastern horizon before sunrise at the beginning of the month, but is then lost as it passes superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 26th.

Venus rises before morning twilight as April begins and can be spotted at magnitude -4.4, but its is below 10 degrees' elevation at sunrise. Its brightness drops to -4.2 as it gets closer to the Sun in the sky during the month, and it shrinks from 22 to 17" across even as its illuminated fraction goes up from 54 to 66 percent.

Highlights

Jupiter is still prominent in the sky this month. Its surface features have changed over the last few years, with the South Equatorial Belt disappearing and reappearing again.

The large asteroids Vesta, at magnitude +5.8, and Ceres, at magnitude +7, reach opposition on the 13th and 15th respectively. They are only 2.5 degrees apartall month, allowing them to be seen together in binoculars, and lie up and left of the bright star Spica in Virgo. The best time to spot them is towards the beginning or end of April, when the Moon is not in the way.

Southern Hemisphere

The daylight hours continue to shorten as the southern hemisphere progresses through early autumn. Three bright planets can be seen in the early evening sky: Jupiter in the north-west, in Gemini, Mars in the north-east, shining with an orange-red hue near to the star Spica in Virgo, and Saturn, which follows Mars in Libra. Mars makes the closest approach to Earth in its current orbit this month, while Saturn's rings and its largest moon, the orange-coloured Titan, are well placed for viewing with a telescope. Mars and Saturn are high in the sky by midnight and above Mars is a kite-shaped quartet of stars in the constellation of Corvus the Crow. Delta Corvi is a wide double star, but there are few other easily-observed objects in the vicinity. Nearby is Hydra the Water Snake, a long path of stars with a distinct group of five stars forming its head.

The winter constellation of Scorpius rises in the east in the evening. Its brightest star, at magnitude +1, is the red supergiant Antares, known as the Rival of Mars because of its colour. It is called Rehua by Maori in Aoteroa (New Zealand), and marks the eye of Maui's fishing hook. This hook is called Te Matau a Maui, for which the back and stinger of the Scorpion's body become the curve and tip of the hook. According to Maori mythology, the great hero Maui used this hook to pull the North Island of New Zealand from the ocean, for which that part of the country is named Te Ika-a-Maui - the Fish of Maui. The tip of the hook crosses a wide and bright part of the Milky Way, and in this part of the sky we are looking towards the Galactic centre, some 30,000 light-years away. The Southern Cross of Crux and its pointer stars are found by running up the Milky Way, as are the Diamond and False Crosses. Crux is called Te Punga in Maori star lore. The hero Tamarereti sailed across the heavens in his Waka, or canoe, placing the stars into the sky, and Te Punga was his boat's Anchor. You can find south halfway between Crux and the bright star Achernar, in Eridanus, by following the line from the top to the base of the Cross. Two-thirds of the way along this line are the Magellanic Clouds, dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.

Highlights

Venus and Mercury are both visible low in the east before dawn in the first week of April.

New Zealand and eastern Australia are treated to a total lunar eclipse as the Moon rises at sunset on the 15th, while central and western Australia see a partial phase of the eclipse.

Orion, Taurus, Canis Major and Gemini move into the western sky after sunset. Cancer is further east, and binoculars can be used to find the open cluster M44 - the Beehive Cluster - in this otherwise sparse area of the sky. Leo is rising in the east, and a number of galaxies can be found beneath his belly using a telescope. Virgo and Coma Berenices are lower down, and share a region known as the Realm of the Galaxies, wherein lies the giant Virgo Cluster. Bootes rises a little later, with its bright star Arcturus. Ursa Major, containing the Plough, is up to the north, and the rear two stars of the the Plough, Merak and Dubhe, point towards the North Star.

The Planets

Jupiter is still well placed for viewing in the evening, reaching above 60 degrees' elevation. It shines at magnitude -2.4 and lies in Gemini, its retrograde (westward) motion reverting to a normal eastward progression on the 6th of the month and leaving it near to the star Mebsuta. A small telescope can pick out the four Galilean moons and, at certain times, the Great Red Spot in the planet's South Equatorial Belt.

Saturn rises around midnight Universal Time (UT) at the start of the month and 22:30 UT by the end (bearing in mind that the clocks go forward one hour in Europe on the 30th). It is in Libra, and, during March, brightens from magnitude +0.4 to +0.3 and grows in angular diameter from 17.4 to 18.4". The planet begins retrograde motion on the 3rd as the Earth overtakes it in their orbits. Saturn's rings lie at 23 degrees to the line of sight, allowing features such as Cassini's Division to be seen with a small telescope or the Enke Gap with a larger one. However, Saturn does not get very high in the northern hemisphere sky at present.

Mars is in Virgo, rising at about 22:00 UT at the beginning of the month and two hours earlier by month's end. Its brightens from +0.5 to -1.3 in magnitude during March, and grows from 11.6 to 14.6" in diameter as it approaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 8th of April. Its disc is about 91 percent illuminated, and surface features such as the north polar cap (tilted at 19 degrees to our line of sight) can be seen with a telescope. Mars spends the month a few degrees from the bright star Spica as it moves retrograde across the sky.

Mercury reaches western elongation (its greatest separation from the Sun in the sky) on the 14th. It can be seen rising in the east-south-east about half an hour before sunrise, and its disc is 7.5" across and 50 percent illuminated in the middle of the month. The planet brightens from +0.8 to -0.1 during March, but cannot be seen very high in the sky.

Venus reaches western elongation on the 22nd, and can be seen about 25 degrees above the south-eastern horizon before sunrise. It dims slightly from magnitude -4.8 to -4.4 this month, and shrinks from 32 to 22" across while its illuminated fraction increases from 36 to 54 percent.

Highlights

It is still a good time to observe Jupiter in the evening this month. Its angular size drops from 42 to 38" during March, but you can still see many features through a small telescope, and the planet reaches its highest point in the sky relatively early in the evening.

The constellations of Cassiopeia and Perseus are high in the west in the evening this month, allowing the Perseus Double Cluster to be found along the path of the Milky Way that runs between them. The star Algol, in Perseus, can also be seen to 'wink' roughly every 2 days and 21 hours, leading it to be nicknamed 'the Demon Star'. In fact, it is a binary star system in which the two stars occult each other in their orbits, causing the dips in apparent brightness.

Orion the Hunter is just to the west of south in the evening, the three stars of his Belt pointing up towards Taurus the Bull, which contains the Hyades and Pleiades Clusters. Gemini lies above, with the planet Jupiter resident there this month. Following Orion's Belt downwards leads to the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, in Canis Major. If you scan down and left from Sirius, you come to the open cluster M41, which hosts a single red giant star among its blue population. Canis Minor and its bright star, Procyon, are towards the south, while Cancer, home to the Beehive Cluster, is in the south-east. Leo the Lion is rising in the east, with its bright star, Regulus. The Realm of the Galaxies, a rich area of the sky between Leo and Virgo, rises later in the night, looking towards the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is in the north-east, while Auriga and its yellow star, Capella, are above Taurus. Cassiopeia and Perseus are in the north-west, with the Milky Way running between them and the Perseus Double Cluster visible in binoculars.

The Planets

Jupiter is in the latter part of an excellent apparition. Shining at magnitude -2.6, it was at opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) in early January. At the beginning of this month, it reaches 40 degrees' elevation by 19:00 UT (Universal Time) and over 60 degrees by 22:00. It gets to its highest nightly elevation at around 20:30 by month's end. Jupiter is moving retrograde (westward) in Gemini, approaching the star Mebsuta. A small telescope shows the four Galilean moons and, at the right times, the Great Red Spot on the planet's surface.

Saturn is a pre-dawn object, rising around 02:00 UT at the beginning of the month and 00:30 at the end. It lies in Libra and has a magnitude of +0.4 and a disc 17" across. The rings are 38" across and 23 degrees from the line of sight, allowing features such as Cassini's Division to be seen with a small telescope. A larger telescope, perhaps 200mm in aperture, may allow the Enke Gap to be spotted in still atmospheric conditions. The only disadvantage is that Saturn's elevation is not very high for northern hemisphere observers.

Mars is in Virgo, rising around 23:30 UT at the beginning of the month and around 22:30 by month's end. During February, it brightens from +0.2 to -0.5 in magnitude and grows from 9 to 11" in angular size, and its illumination of 91 percent allows surface features to be seen. The dark V-shape of Syrtis Major is a prominent one, while the white Northern Polar Cap may be slightly less obvious in the Martian summer. Mars progresses down through Virgo during the month, starting off 5 degrees to the upper left of the bright blue star Spica, and ending 6 degrees to its left as it begins moving retrograde (westward).

Mercury reached eastern elongation (its greatest separation of 18 degrees from the Sun in the sky) on the 31st of January. It lies 8 degrees below a crescent Moon on the 1st of this month, with a brightness of magnitude -0.6 and an angular diameter of 7", and can be seen for up to 2 hours after sunset if you have a low western horizon. This reduces to 1.5 hours by the 7th, when the magnitude is +1, the angular size is 8" and 20 percent of the disc is illuminated. Mercury is quickly lost from view after this, reaching inferior conjunction (between the Sun and the Earth) on the 15th. It reappears in the pre-dawn sky at month's end, about 20 degrees to the west of the Sun, but its very low elevation makes it difficult to spot.

Venus passed inferior conjunction on the 11th of last month, and commences this month low in the east before dawn. Shining at magnitude -4.6, it reaches 17 degrees' elevation in the south-east at sunrise by the middle of the month, showing a crescent of 25 percent illumination with an angular diameter of 46". Venus concludes February 36 percent illuminated and 33" across.

Highlights

It is a great time to observe Jupiter in the evening this month. You can see many features through a small telescope: the North Equatorial Belt is broader than it was a few years ago, and the Great Red Spot more prominent in the South Equatorial Belt - as long as you know when to look.

Mercury is close to a thin crescent Moon on the night of the 1st to 2nd, and the scene may be accompanied by earthshine.

Jupiter is about 7 degrees from a waxing Moon on the evening of the 10th.

Mars is 5.5 degrees above and left of the star Spica and 10 degrees from a waning Moon before dawn on the 19th.

The second-largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt, Pallas, can be found for a few days around the 22nd as it approaches the 2nd-magnitude star Alphard in Hydra. It reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 22nd, putting it due south around midnight. At magnitude +7, it is easily visible in binoculars - find Alphard first, and the asteroid should be in the same field of view (4 degrees away on the 22nd). Pallas is some 550 kilometres across (although non-spherical), and on the 22nd it lies 2.1 times further from the Sun than does our own planet.

Venus is just 0.5 degrees above a thin, waning crescent Moon before dawn on the 26th. The pair can be seen in the south-east.

Southern Hemisphere

The evening sky is dominated in the north by the planet Jupiter and the constellations of Orion, Canis Major and Taurus. Jupiter, looking like a bright, white star, is in front of the distant stars that form the constellation of Gemini, the Twins. Gemini is one of the constellations through which the Sun moves as seen from the Earth; the path of the Sun across the sky is called the ecliptic, and the constellations along it form the zodiac. To the left of Gemini is an upside down 'V' of stars that forms the head of another zodiacal constellation, Taurus the Bull. The brightest of these stars is the giant, orange-hued Aldebaran, while its younger, fainter companions belong to more a distant cluster called the Hyades. Another star cluster called the Pleiades marks the Bull's back, and can be found to the west of his head. Visible as a compact cluster to the naked eye, they make a fine sight in binoculars.

Orion the Hunter, an upside-down summer constellation in the southern hemisphere, is due north after sunset. His brightest stars, Rigel, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix, along with the three stars of his Belt, form an easily recognisable pattern. The Orion Nebula can be found in the middle of Orion's Sword, appearing as a fuzzy star to the unaided eye. Binoculars or a small telescope show a bat-shaped cloud, while a telescope of 100 millimetres or more in aperture reveals a number of stars in and around the nebula, including a tight group of four stars called the Trapezium. Above the Belt is Rigel, the brightest star in Orion, which is actually a triple system. To the east are Orion's two hunting dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, marks the collar of Canis Major, and the Large Dog is upside-down with his feet in the air. Below Canis Major is Procyon, forming the tail of Canis Minor, while a fainter star to the left marks the Small Dog's front. With binoculars, two lovely sights are visible: just over a third of the way between Sirius and Procyon is a cluster of stars called M50, and halfway along the line from Procyon to Betelgeuse is a rectangular cluster of stars embedded in a faint nebula called the Rosette. Almost overhead in the early evening is the second-brightest star in the night sky, Canopus.

The Planets

Mars rises in the east around midnight, and is in the constellation of Virgo.

Saturn rises in the east some time after Mars, and lies in Libra. Like Mars, it will be better placed for viewing in the evening sky during autumn and winter.

Venus reappears in the morning sky this month, climbing higher as the month progresses.

Mercury also becomes visible in the pre-dawn sky towards the end of the month.

Pegasus and Andromeda are setting in the west in the evening, with the nearby galaxies of Andromeda and Triangulum visible under a dark sky. Orion the Hunter looms large in the south, with the red giant star Betelgeuse to his upper left and the blue giant Rigel to his lower right. Between them, the Belt of three stars is above the Sword, which contains the spectacular Orion Nebula. The Belt points down towards Sirius, or Alpha Canis Majoris, the brightest star after the Sun to observers on Earth. Following the Belt the other way leads to Taurus the Bull, wherein lie the beautiful Hyades and Pleiades Clusters. The orange-coloured star Aldebaran appears to be among the Hyades, but is actually closer to us. Above Orion are Gemini, the host of Jupiter this month, and Auriga, containing the bright yellow star Capella. Perseus and Cassiopeia are nearby, with the Perseus Double Cluster among the treasures to be found along the Milky Way that runs between them. Leo rises in the east as the evening wears on, followed by the planets Mars and Saturn in the early hours of the morning.

The Planets

Jupiter is visible throughout the night, crossing the southern sky. It reaches opposition (opposite to the Sun in the sky) on the 5th and attains a maximum elevation of 62 degrees, making this a great month to observe it. With a magnitude of -2.7 and an angular diameter of 46-47", it can be clearly seen in Gemini. It is currently moving west (retrograde) through the constellation as the Earth overtakes it in their orbits around the Sun. A small telescope shows the Galilean moons, as well as the Great Red Spot in Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt.

Saturn is visible before dawn, rising around 03:00 Universal Time (UT) at the beginning of the month and 01:30 by the end. It shines in Libra at magnitude +0.6, with a disc 16" across. Its rings are now inclined at 20 degrees to the line of sight, but the planet does not rise very high in northern hemisphere skies.

Mars rises at about midnight UT at the start of January and 23:00 at the end. It brightens from magnitude +0.9 to +0.3 over the month, while it increases from 6.9 to 8.8" in angular size. Using a telescope, markings can be discerned on its surface. Mars is moving down through Virgo, from beneath Porrima to above Spica.

Mercury reached superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 29th of December, but reappears low in the west-south-west in the second half of January. It is at its greatest angular separation of 18 degrees from the Sun (elongation) on the 31st, when it has a magnitude of -0.6 and an angular size of 7", and lies 10 degrees above the horizon 45 minutes after sunset, alongside a thin crescent Moon.

Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun (inferior conjunction) on the 11th. Nevertheless, it can be seen low in the south-west after sunset at the very beginning of the month, and low in the south-east before dawn at the end. It forms an extremely thin crescent on New Year's Day, being just 3 percent illuminated, but spans almost 1'.

Highlights

Jupiter, high up and far from the Sun in the sky, offers optimal viewing conditions this month. The Great Red Spot has also become more prominent recently.

Venus lies just below the Moon 45 minutes after sunset on the 2nd, and both bodies show very slender crescent phases. Look out for earthshine, where sunlight reflected from Earth's clouds faintly illuminates the otherwise dark part of the Moon.

It is a good time to observe the Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies early or late month, when the Moon is new.

Jupiter is only 6 degrees from the Moon on the 14th, when the latter is 98.4 percent full.

Southern Hemisphere

Orion, Canis Manor and Taurus dominate the northern sky after sunset. The planet Jupiter is nearby in Gemini, moving westward (retrograde) relative to the stars. Castor and Pollux, the brightest stars in Gemini, are low in the north-east in the evening and represent the heads of the Heavenly Twins. Castor, the lower of the two, is a multiple star system with a combined magnitude of +1.6 whose two brightest components can be split using a medium-sized telescope. Pollux, a red giant star in the latter stages of its life, is brighter at magnitude +1.1. The open star cluster M35 resides near the star Eta Geminorum, close to Taurus. It can be seen with the naked eye, while binoculars or a small telescope reveal more of its population of some 500 stars. Taurus, in the north, is marked by a V-shape of three stars, representing the head and horns of the Bull. The red giant star Aldebaran is the Bull's Eye. The Pleiades star cluster, on the back of Taurus, is visible to the west of the head.

Orion is between Taurus and Gemini, a Hunter standing upside-down to Southern Hemisphere observers. Commonly known as the Pot in New Zealand, it plays host to the Orion Nebula in the middle of the Sword just below his Belt. This star-forming region looks like a fuzzy star to the unaided eye, or a bat-shaped cloud in binoculars or a small telescope. A telescope of 100 millimetres or more in aperture reveals stars within and around the nebula, including a tight group of four stars called the Trapezium, the brightest of which illuminates the surrounding cloud with ultra-violet radiation. Orion's left foot is the blue giant star Rigel, which is some 18 times more massive than our own Sun.

The Pleiades, the head of Taurus and the Belt and Sword of Orion make up a great Waka, or canoe, to some Maori along the east coast of Aoteroa (New Zealand). In this canoe, called Te Waka o Tamarereti, the mythical figure of Tamarereti sailed across the night sky and placed the stars into the heavens, leaving a wake in the form of the Milky Way. The constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor are the hunting dogs of Orion, following him through the sky. The larger dog's collar is marked by Sirius, the brightest night-time star. The smaller dog's tail is the bright star Procyon. Canopus, the next-brightest star after Sirius, is almost overhead in the evening.

The planets

Mars rises after midnight NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time), near to the star Spica in Virgo.

Northern Hemisphere

Pegasus and Andromeda are setting towards the west after nightfall, and you can find the galaxies M31 and, given a dark sky, M33, in this part of the heavens. Aries and Taurus are over to the east, the latter containing the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. The red star Aldebaran appears to be within the Hyades, but is actually closer to us. Orion rises a little later, and you can follow the three stars of his Belt down to the brightest night-time star, Sirius, in Canis Major. Beneath the Belt is the fuzzy glow of the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery which is a rewarding sight in binoculars. Gemini, the constellation of the Twins, is nearby. High overhead are Cassiopeia and Perseus, with the picturesque Double Cluster between them.

The Planets

Jupiter rises around 19:30 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month, reaching its highest elevation of 62 degrees when due south at about 03:00. It shines at magnitude -2.6 and has a disc spanning 42", making this a great time to observe it. It lies in Gemini and, in the 10th, passes just 15' from the star Wasat, which has a magnitude of +3.5. It is at its nightly highest point around midnight by the end of December, and you can see its equatorial bands and larger moons, as well as the Great Red Spot at certain times.

Saturn is a pre-dawn object, rising around 05:00 UT as the month begins, and 03:30 at its end. With a magnitude of +0.6 and a disc 15.5" across, it now shows its rings at 20 degrees to our line of sight, allowing them to be easily observed through a telescope. It reaches only about 20 degrees above the horizon, however.

Mars has moved from Leo into Virgo and rises soon after midnight early in the month, with a magnitude of +1.2 and an angular size of 5.6". During December, it brightens to magnitude +0.9 and grows to 6.8" in size, allowing surface features such as the polar caps and Syrtis Major to be seen. Towards the end of the month, it approaches the star Porrima.

Mercury shines at magnitude +0.6 in the pre-dawn sky as December begins, appearing below Saturn. It brightens to magnitude -0.8 by mid-month, but gets progressively lower at dawn and becomes lost in the Sun's glare around the same time. It reaches superior conjunction (behind the Sun in the sky) on the 29th.

Venus is spectacular, starting December at magnitude -4.9. Although only 15 degrees above the horizon at sunset, it can be observed at a higher elevation for at least an hour before that. It changes significantly during the first three weeks of December, its illuminated fraction decreasing from 30 to 11 percent even as its angular diameter grows from 38 to 53". It is just 4 percent illuminated by month's end, but the slender crescent is almost 60" across. By making these observations, you can follow in the footsteps of Galileo, to whom the changing phase of Venus revealed that it must be in orbit around the Sun and not the Earth. The planet will pass in front of the Sun (inferior conjunction) on the 11th of January.

Highlights

Comet ISON passed close to the Sun on the 28th of November, before recording of the current Jodcast episode. The progress of its brightness this month remains unpredictable. Despite initial reports of its demise, parts of the comet survived and the tail may yet become visible to the naked eye during early December, below a thin crescent Moon and the planets Saturn and Mercury. It will reach higher in the sky at daybreak as the month goes on, becoming visible before twilight in mid-December. Although its brightness is then expected to decline, it may be seen 5 degrees to the west of the globular cluster M13, in Hercules, on the 22nd. It becomes circumpolar towards the end of the month, lying in the vicinity of Ursa Major.

The Moon occults the star Epsilon Piscium at about 22:05 UT on the 11th (commencing at 22:07 from Edinburgh and 22:16 from London, for example). The star, shining at magnitude +4.3 in the constellation of Pisces, is at 30 degrees' elevation in the south when the waxing gibbous Moon passes in front of it. It will be seen to vanish as the dark limb of the Moon obscures it, emerging less dramatically from the bright side about 13 minutes later.

The Geminid meteor shower can be observed after midnight around the 14th and 15th, with the radiant (from where the meteors appear to come) near the bright star Castor in Gemini. The gibbous Moon in Aries hinders the view, but after it sets, around 05:00 UT, there should be an hour of darkness in which to spot the meteors. These shooting stars are produced by dust shed from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, whereas most showers are cometary in origin.

The Ursid meteor shower is visible after midnight on the 22nd and 23rd, with its radiant not far from the bright star Kochab in Ursa Minor. A gibbous Moon is again present, but poses less of a problem as it is far from the radiant in the sky.

Southern Hemisphere

The evening sky is dominated in the north by the constellations of Taurus, Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The Milky Way stretches through them and along the southern horizon, its pattern of light and dark regions dimmer than in the winter, but still impressive. It comprises many distant stars in our galaxy, combined with patches of obscuring dust. M42, the Orion Nebula, appears as a bright cloud within Orion the Hunter. Upside-down in the southern hemisphere, Orion is sometimes called the Cooking Pot, his Belt of three blue giant stars marking its base. Orion's Sword, containing M42, is one of the Pot's sides. The nebula is part of a large cloud of interstellar material, and a telescope reveals patterns, while photographs show different colours. Beneath the Pot is Betelgeuse, a red giant star which forms one of Orion's shoulders, while above is the blue-white giant Rigel, one of his feet. Rigel has a companion star that can be seen in medium-sized telescopes. The upside-down V-shape of Taurus is to the west of Orion, forming the head of Taurus the Bull. The bright star Aldebaran marks the Bull's eye, while the more distant Hyades Cluster is part of the head. The Bull's back is marked, a little further west, by the Pleiades Cluster, which to Maori are known as Matariki, or the Little Eyes. At least seven stars of the Pleiades can be seen by eye on a dark night, and binoculars reveal many more.

Crux is low in the south-east in the evening, with the dark Coalsack Nebula beside it. The darkness is caused by clouds of material which may one day collapse under gravity and form stars. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC) appear as bright clouds in the southern hemisphere sky, and are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The LMC is near to the bright star Canopus in the south-east, and binoculars or a small telescope can be used to find many star clusters and nebulae within it. The SMC is not far away and is close to the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, which looks like a hazy star to the unaided eye but can be seen to be a round group of stars through binoculars. NGC 362 is another nearby globular cluster, but a telescope is needed to observe it well.

Highlights

The annual Phoenicid meteor shower reaches its peak on the 6th. The meteors seem to come from a point called the radiant, which is in the constellation of Phoenix for this shower, near to the bright star Achernar. It is high overhead, well placed for observing.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the 14th. The radiant, near to the star Castor in Gemini, rises at about 03:00 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time), and its low elevation means that only half the meteors are visible. The Moon, becoming full on the 17th, hampers viewing, but the shower is worth seeing a week either side of the peak, and so the beginning of the month may be a good time to observe without the Moon's glare.

The planet Jupiter also sits in Gemini this month, its larger moons visible through binoculars. It appears as a brilliant white star to the naked eye.

The summer solstice occurs in the southern hemisphere this month, with the longest day coming on the 21st. The Sun is currently at a peak of activity, with many sunspots visible - but only look at them via a projection or through a dedicated solar telescope, as other methods may damage your eyesight.

Comet ISON has now left southern hemisphere skies, but brightened to naked eye visibility last month before doing so. It is still visible to those at low southern latitudes early this month.

Northern Hemisphere

The Summer Triangle is visible, as usual. It is in the west after sunset, while Pegasus makes its way over to the south-west during the evening. The globular cluster M15 is close to the star Enif, at the front of the head of the upside-down Winged Horse. Alpheratz, one of the upper stars in the Square of Pegasus, can be used as a starting point to locate M31 and M33, the Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies. Taurus rises in the south-east in the evening, containing the Hyades and Pleiades Clusters. Cassiopeia is high overhead, and you can follow the Milky Way down from there to Auriga, with its bright yellow star Capella, and then Gemini, with the stars Castor and Pollux forming the heads of the Twins.

The Planets

Jupiter rises around 21:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month, and reaches 60 degrees' elevation when due south at about 05:00. It has a magnitude of -2.4 and can be found near to the star Wasat in Gemini, which has a magnitude of +3.5. It begins moving westward (retrograde) relative to the stars on the 7th. Jupiter rises by 19:00 UT at the end of November, crossing the south at 03:00, and reaches a magnitude of -2.6 and an angular diameter of 45". A small telescope shows the Galilean moons and the Great Red Spot in the South Equatorial Belt, as well as shadow transits on the nights of the 5th-6th and 12th-13th.

Saturn passes behind the Sun (conjunction) on the 6th, but reappears in the pre-dawn sky around the 22nd, when it is close to Mercury and just above Comet ISON.

Mars begins its current apparition in earnest, rising around 01:30 UT at the start of the month. During November, it brightens from +1.5 to +1.2 in magnitude and grows from 4.9 to 5.6" in angular size, allowing surface features like the polar caps to be discerned through a telescope. It moves from Leo into Virgo on the 25th.

Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun (inferior conjunction) on the 1st. It returns to the pre-dawn sky around the 9th, shining at magnitude +0.8. It brightens thereafter, remaining visible until early December.

Venus is at its furthest point east from the Sun in the sky (eastern elongation) on the 1st, but its low elevation makes it more difficult to observe, as it reaches a maximum of 9 degrees at the beginning of the month and 14 degrees at the end.

Highlights

Venus lies beneath a thin crescent Moon about 45 minutes after sunset on the 6th.

Shadow transits of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa can be seen on the nights of the 5th-6th and 12th-13th, as the satellites cast eclipse shadows over the Jovian surface. Io itself can also be seen distinctly from Jupiter during the event on the 5th-6th.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of the 16th-17th, although the full Moon will obscure many of the shooting stars. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation of Leo, which rises in the east around midnight.

It is a good time to observe Neptunethis month, and the planet can be found in Aquarius using binoculars or a telescope.

Comet ISON should become visible in binoculars or a small telescope in the hour before dawn from around the 16th onwards. It is predicted to reach magnitude +3 to +4, and may be visible to the unaided eye if it does so. Moving quickly as it nears the Sun, the comet advances through Leo, Virgo and Libra before entering Scorpius. It passes by the bright star Spica in Virgo on the 17th and 18th, and approaches Mercury and Saturn in the sky around the 21st, but will be getting lost in the Sun's glare around this time. It will reappear in December as it moves away from the Sun, but its nucleus, of some 3 kilometres in diameter, may break up in the heat at perihelion, making its brightness afterwards difficult to forecast.

Southern Hemisphere

After sunset, the winter constellations are seen sliding towards the western horizon as the summer stars rise in the east. Scorpius is one of those setting, and its tail marks one of four pillars in Maori star lore. Ranginui, the Sky Father, rests on these pillars, and the other three mark the rising points of Te Ra (the Sun) at the solstices and equinoctes, as seen from New Zealand: Takurua (Sirius), the brightest star in the night sky, rises in the east-south-east, like the Sun at the summer solstice; Matariki (the Pleiades Cluster) rises in the east-north-east, like the Sun at the winter solstice; Tautoru (Orion's Belt) rises due east, like the Sun at the equinoctes. Te Punga, the Southern Cross, skirts the southern horizon as it reaches its lowest point in the night sky. It is sometimes seen as the anchor of the Waka (canoe) of Tamarereti, who sailed across the sky placing Nga Whetu (the stars) across the body of Ranginui. The Diamond Cross and False Cross asterisms can also be seen low in the south, and the bottom star of the Diamond appears slightly fuzzy due to its being surrounded by a cluster of dimmer stars. Between these crosses lies the Carina Nebula, in which binoculars or a telescope can pick out swirls of luminosity and star clusters. Eta Carinae, one of the most massive stars known, is beside the nebula. The star Achernar is high above the Southern Cross, and between the two are the Magellanic Clouds, dwarf galaxies near to the Milky Way. The bright globular cluster 47 Tucanae is nearby in the sky, in the constellation of Tucana, the Toucan. Alpha Tucanae is a yellow giant star of magnitude +2.8, while Beta Tucanae is actually a group of six stars which seem to be loosely bound together by gravity.

The Leonid meteor shower occurs this month, and is best observed about three hours before sunrise from the 15th to the 17th. It originates from dust shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle as it comes close to the Earth every 33 years. Its shooting stars appear to come from Leo the Lion, a constellation marked by a sickle shape that represents the chest and head.This year's shower coincides with a full Moon, hampering viewing.

The constellations of Orion and Taurus are visible from all over the Earth, because they straddle the celestial equator. Rigel, Orion's brightest star, is one of the Hunter's feet, but is at the top as seen from the southern hemisphere. It has a companion star, Rigel B, which is usually lost in the glare of Rigel even though it has a magnitude of +6.7 and would otherwise be visible in binoculars. Rigel is called Puanga by Maori, and its dawn rising over the lower North Island of New Zealand heralds the new year. Betelgeuse, one of Orion's shoulders, is a bright red giant star which is cooler than the Sun because it is swollen by the fusion of helium at its core as it nears the end of its life. Taurus is next to Orion, and is currently on the opposite side of the sky to the Sun, which is now in the lesser known constellation of Ophiuchus.

Comet ISON will hopefully brighten to naked-eye visibility this month. It swings past the Sun on the 28th and 29th of November, passing just over one million kilometres from it. It may be best seen after perihelion, when it crosses into the northern hemisphere sky.

Northern Hemisphere

Cygnus, with its bright star Deneb, is high overhead in the evening. Lyra, containing the star Vega, is nearby. The star Altair, in Vega, completes the Summer Triangle. Hercules in lower to the west, with its four brightest stars making the Keystone. Two-thirds of the way up the right-hand side of the Keystone is the globular cluster M13. Pegasus is in the south-east. The constellation of Andromeda, hosting the Andromeda Galaxy, is nearby. The Milky Way runs down towards the north-east, along which can be found Cassiopeia and Perseus. In between these two constellations is the Double Cluster, which can be seen with the naked eye but looks spectacular in a telescope. Taurus and the Pleiades rise later in the evening.

The Planets

Jupiter is well placed in the pre-dawn sky, but rises around midnight BST (British Summer Time, 1 hour ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and 22:00 at the end. It is 40 degrees above the the south-eastern horizon in Gemini as twilight begins, shining at magnitude -2.2 and with a disc 38" across. It is 90 degrees from the Sun in the sky on the 12st, giving a good opportunity to observe eclipses and shadow transits of the Galilean moons. Jupiter brightens to magnitude -2.4 by the end of the month, and has a disc 41" across.

Mars is in Leo, rising four to five hours before the Sun. It has a magnitude of +1.6 and its angular diameter increases from 4.4 to 4.9" during the month, so that surface features begin to become visible to a telescope. It is close to the star Regulus on the 12th, making a nice colour contrast. Comet ISON also appears near to Mars from the 16th to the 19th.

Saturn is in Libra, and may just be visible above the south-western horizon after sunset in the first half of the month, not far from Venus. Its magnitude is +0.7 and it has an angular size of 15.5". The planet's northern hemisphere is visible, while the southern hemisphere is largely hidden by its rings, and its largest moon, Titan, may be visible using a telescope - but don't use it until the Sun has set.

Mercury is below Saturn, and barely distinguishable in the evening twilight. The two planets will be joined by a slender crescent Moon on the 7th.

Venus brightens from -4.2 to -4.4 in magnitude during October, while moving from Libra to Scorpius and then into Ophiuchus. It enters Sagittarius on the 1st of November, when it is also at greatest eastern elongation. It grows from 18 to 25" over the month, while its percentage illumination drops from 73 to 50 percent.

Neptune can be observed through a small telescope this month, and can be found in Aquarius at magnitude +7.9. It reaches a maximum elevation of 27 degrees. Its largest moon, Triton, may be observed on a clear night using a telescope of 8 inches or more in aperture.

Comet ISON should become visible to medium-sized telescopesthis month. It is just above Regulus in Leo on the 16th, when it is also close to Mars. It is not brightening as quickly as hoped, so it is not clear whether it will become as spectacular as first predicted.

Southern Hemisphere

October sees Scorpius and Sagittarius in the western sky after sunset, and these constellations begin to set around midnight New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT, 13 hours ahead of Universal Time). The Milky Way runs north to south in the evening, and covers the western horizon by midnight. On the 5th, the lack of moonlight gives the best chance of observing the zodiacal light in the west. This faint, triangular glow can be seen after sunset, and is caused by sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the plane of our Solar System. The planet Saturn and the star Spica are low in the west, and will soon be lost in the twilight sky. Venus is high in the evening sky, with a crescent Moon joining it on the 8th. It will be close to the red star Antares on the 17th, in the constellation of Scorpius. Both Uranus and Neptune are in the evening sky, but are too faint to spot with the naked eye.

The brightest star currently visible in the evening, Canopus, is in the south-east and climbs higher in the southern sky during the night. While low down, it twinkles in a variety of colours due to the passage of its light through our turbulent atmosphere. To Maori the star is Atutahi, the high chief of the heavens. Sirius, the only star which outshines Canopus at night, rises after midnight. At this time Alpha Centauri, the third-brightest night-time star, is also in the sky. All three appear along the Milky Way, and Alpha Centauri is the brighter of the two stars that point towards Crux, the Southern Cross. While appearing to the unaided eye as a single yellowish star, a small telescope reveals that it is a binary system. Its component stars take 80 years to orbit around one another. Crux gets lower in the sky during the evening and is close to the horizon at midnight, but never sets over New Zealand. Travelling along the Milky Way from the pointers and Crux, we come to the Carina Nebula, a vast star-forming region which appears as a bright haze in the sky. Binoculars or a small telescope show dark lanes and star clusters among numerous stars. One of the most massive stars in the Galaxy, Eta Carinae, sits within this nebula. It is bright orange and has brightened over the last 20 years to become visible to naked eye. The two Magellanic Clouds are high in the south, near the bright star Achernar. They are irregular dwarf galaxies relatively close to our own Milky Way, and look like fuzzy clouds moving around the southern celestial pole. Very low in the north is our nearest neighbouring giant galaxy, Andromeda. It is faintly visible to the eye and can be easily seen in binoculars if the sky is dark.

Jupiter rises around 03:00 NZDT early in the month and is low to the north at sunrise, while Mars appears as a red 'star' in the morning twilight. Comet ISON is now rapidly approaching the Sun and passes by Mars and the star Regulus in the sky this month. It is below and to the north of Mars for the rest of October, probably becoming visible to binoculars - and perhaps even to the naked eye - by month's end. Next month, it will make its closest approach to the Sun.

Northern Hemisphere

The bright star Deneb is high in the evening sky, with Vega nearby and Altair lower down forming the Summer Triangle. The asterism of Brocchi's Cluster, or the Coathanger, lies a third of the way up from Altair towards Vega in front of the dark region of the Milky Way known as the Cygnus Rift. Below is the small constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin. Pegasus is rising in the east, next to Andromeda and M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. To find M31, begin at the bright star Alpha Andromedae (Alpheratz) at the top-left corner of the Square of Pegasus, move one star to the left, curve slightly to the right to a second bright star, then take a right-angle to the right, pass a fairly bright star, and move the same distance again to reach the milky glow of the galaxy. Above Andromeda is the W-shaped Cassiopeia, whose lower V-shape also points towards M31. Perseus is lower down in the east as the evening wears on, and between Perseus and Cassiopeia is the Perseus Double Cluster, a pair of star clusters that look lovely in a telescope.

The Planets

Jupiter is beginning a superb apparition. It lies in Gemini, and will reach above 60 degrees in elevation when it reaches opposition early next year. At the beginning of September, it rises around 01:00 BST (British Summer Time, one hour ahead of Universal Time) and is 25 degrees above the south-eastern horizon at morning twilight. By the end of the month, it rises at 23:30 BST and is at 50 degrees' elevation by dawn. It brightens from magnitude -2 to -2.2 over the month, and its angular diameter increases from 35 to 37.5". A small telescope easily shows the four Galilean moons, the Great Red Spot and the North and South Equatorial Bands.

Saturn is in Libra, and lies low in the west after sunset at magnitude +0.7. Its angular size drops from 16.1 to 15.6" during the month. The rings are around 17 degrees from the line of sight and the planet's southern hemisphere is visible. Its largest moon, Titan, may be visible with a telescope.

Mars is beginning its apparition, starting the month in Cancer and moving into Leo on the 25th. It rises at about 03:00 BST at magnitude +1.6, and lies some 12 degrees above the north-eastern horizon at 04:30. You may need binoculars to see it, but don't use them once the Sun is up. Mars's angular size increases from 4.1 to 4.4" during the month, but it will remain difficult to see any surface markings.

Mercury may be just visible above the horizon half an hour after sunset at the end of the month, below Venus and Saturn. With a magnitude of -0.1, binoculars or a telescope are required to see it against the light of dawn.

Highlights

Saturn and Venus appear alongside a thin crescent Moon about 45 minutes after sunset on the 8th and 9th, given a low west-south-western horizon.

Four nice objects can be observed in the southern sky this month: the globular cluster M13 in Hercules, the Double Double Star in Lyra and the planetary nebulae called the Ring and the Dumbbell in Lyra and Vulpecula respectively.

Low in the west-south-west, Saturn is almost directly above Venus one hour after sunset on the 17th, the latter being brighter at magnitude -4.1.

Mercury joins Saturn and Venus 30 minutes after sunset on the 24th, with Mercury just 0.75 degrees from the bright star Spica, in Virgo.

Comet ISON appears in the morning sky around the 27th. A six-inch or larger telescope may allow you to spot it. It had a magnitude of +14.3 on the 12th of August - fainter than previously expected. On the 27th itself, ISON is 2 degrees from the planet Mars.

Southern Hemisphere

As the spring equinox approaches on the 22nd, the winter stars set earlier in the west and the summer constellations begin to rise in the east. Scorpius is overhead after sunset. To Maori it is a fish hook, while to the chinese it is a dragon breathing out the Milky Way. The constellation contains many bright stars, double stars and star clusters. The Milky Way runs north to south and provides a wealth of targets. Cygnus the Swan, or the Northern Cross, is in the north with its neck stretching along the Milky Way and its brightest star, Deneb, marking the tail on the horizon. The stars Deneb, Vega and Altair form the Winter Triangle. Beta Cygni marks the Swan's head, and its alternative name, Albireo, derives from 'beak star'. With a magnitude of +3, a telescope show it to be a lovely double star, with gold and blue components. Gamma Cygni is the chest of the Swan and the centre of the Cross, shining at magnitude +2.6. A dark band on the Milky Way, known as the Cygnus Rift, can be spotted on a moonless night. Sometimes called the Northern Coalsack, it is a large cloud of dust around a million times the mass of the Sun. North-east of Deneb is the open cluster M39, larger than the full Moon and visible to the unaided eye. Binoculars or a wide-field telescope reveal a loose, triangular cluster of over 30 stars.

The bright star Fomalhaut is near the eastern horizon, forming the mouth of Piscis Austrinus, the faint constellation of the Southern Fish. Between Fomalhaut and Altair is the long string of stars making up the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius, the Water-carrier. Its second-brightest star is Alpha Aquarii, while Beta Aquarii is very slightly brighter at magnitude +2.87. Zeta Aquarii, at magnitude +3.6, is a double star which crossed the celestial equator into the northern sky in 2004. Nearby are the globular cluster M2, a hazy star to binoculars but partially resolvable with a 20-centimetre telescope, and NGC 7293, a nearby planetary nebula known as the Helix Nebula which can also be resolved with a telescope. Crux, the Southern Cross, nestles in the Milky Way midway down the south-western sky, with the two pointer stars following behind. The Jewel Box, a 4th-magnitude haze to the naked eye, appears as a lovely star cluster in binoculars beside the second-brightest star in Crux. It is partially obscured by a cloud of dust called the Coalsack Nebula. Canopus, the second-brightest night-time star, moves along the southern horizon.

The planets Venus and Saturn are in the west after sunset, and are joined by Mercury early in the month. The Moon sits between Saturn and Venus on the 9th, while Mercury is near to the bright star Spica on the 25th. Venus moves past Saturn during September, setting around 23:30 NZST (New Zealand Standard Time, 12 hours ahead of Universal Time) by month's end. Saturn moves closer to the Sun, setting earlier and becoming fainter. Jupiter climbs high into the morning sky, while Mars hides in the early-morning twilight. The summer constellations of Taurus, Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor shine above Jupiter.

In the evening, the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair, in the constellations of Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila, make up the Summer Triangle in the southern sky. About a third of the way up from Altair towards Vega, the asterism of the Coathanger lies in the dark Cygnus Rift. The Ring Nebula, in Lyra, and the Dumbbell Nebula, in Vulpecula, are nice lanetary nebulae that can be viewed in binoculars in this part of the sky. Pegasus and Andromeda rise as the night moves on, the latter containing the galaxy M31. Cassiopeia and Ursa Major are high overhead, near, as always, to the North Star.

The Planets

Jupiter rises at about 03:30 BST (British Summer Time, one hour ahead of Universal Time) at the beginning of the month, shining at magnitude -1.9 and with a disc of 33" across. It is only 20 degrees above the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. It begins August within 5 degrees of Mars in the sky and gradually moves away during the month. Towards month's end, it rises 3-4 hours before the Sun and lies between the feet of Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins. A small telescope reveals the four Galilean moons.

Saturn lies in Virgo after sunset, 11 degrees away from the bright star Spica in the south-western sky. At magnitude +0.7, it displays a yellowish hue and its disc has a diameter dropping from 16.7 to 16.2" during the month. At the beginning of August, it is 1 degree away from the star Kappa Virginis, which has a magnitude of +4.2. It moves eastward towards Alpha Libri over the course of the month. Saturn's rings are 17 degrees from the line of sight, with the planet's southern hemisphere visible. A small telescope under good seeing conditions should show Cassini's Division and Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in spite of the relatively low elevation of the system.

Mars moves from Gemini into Cancer on the 25th. At the beginning of the month, it sits 15 degrees above the north-eastern horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. It has a magnitude of +1.6 and an angular diameter of 4", preventing surface detail from being seen.

Mercury, appearing in the morning, brightens in magnitude from -0.5 to -0.8 during the month, but its elevation decreases and it is lost from view around the middle of August. Mercury passes 4 degrees below Comet ISON on the 8th, but the comet will be too dim to observe easily; they will appear close together again in late November, when they may be of comparable brightness.

Venus starts the month 32 degrees east of the setting Sun, but is only 11 degrees above the horizon when it becomes visible. It moves to 39 degrees from the Sun by the end of the month, but its elevation in the evening sky does not improve. Its magnitude changes from -4 to -3.9 during the month, while its angular diameter increases from 12.8 to 14.2" and its phase can be observed using a small telescope. Venus moves from Leo into Virgo, ending August 5 degrees from Spica.

Highlights

The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the 12th, and so is best seenafter midnight at the beginning of the 12th or 13th. The Moon will not hamper observations this year, and so the debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle will be visible at it blazes through the Earth's atmosphere.

Venus will lie above a thin, waxing crescent Moon just after sunset on the 9th. You will need a low western horizon and may be able to spot Earthshine - reflected sunlight from the Earth faintly illuminating the dark part of the Moon.

It is a good time to observe Neptunethis month. Coming into opposition on the 27th, when it is furthest from the Sun in the sky and also relatively near to the Earth, it has a magnitude of +7.9 and can be seen using a telescope. It reaches a maximum elevation of 27 deegrees when due south. On a dark night, a telescope with an aperture of more than 8" can be used to spot the planet's largest moon, Triton.

Southern Hemisphere

After sunset, the planets Venus and Saturn, along with the constellations of Virgo and Corvus, can be seen in the west. Venus is a brilliant 'star' near the western horizon, while Saturn is much higher and appears yellow. Small telescopes reveal Saturn's rings and largest moon, Titan, while larger ones show faint banding in the planet's atmosphere and variations in the colour of the rings. Jupiter is in the morning sky, along with Mars and, at the beginning of the month, Mercury. The two brightest stars in the sky after sunset are Spica, in Virgo, and Arcturus, in Bootes the Herdsman. Epsilon Bootis is a lovely double star, consisting of a yellow giant primary star and a bluish-white companion, also known as Pulcherrima - 'most beautiful'.

August sees the Milky Way stretching from east to west across the evening sky, and it contains most of the brightest stars in our night sky. In the north, Vega is to the left of the Milky Way, while Canopus is to the south. Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri are in the south-west after sunset and point towards the Southern Cross, the smallest of the 88 official constellations. The winter constellation of Scorpius sits high overhead, with the orange star Antares marking the Scorpion's heart and a curve of stars forming its body. Following Scorpius is Sagittarius the Archer, another zodiacal constellation.

Away from the Milky Way, the density of stars drops off rapidly. About halfway above the southern horizon in the evening is Tucana the Toucan. Alpha Tucanae has a magnitude of +2.8, while Beta Tucanae is a loosely bound group of six stars and Kappa Tucanae is a system of two pairs of binary stars. Tucana contains the dwarf galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the second-brightest globular cluster in our sky, 47 Tucanae. The SMC appears as a cloudy smudge to the unaided eye, and contains several hundred million stars some 200,000 light-years away. With binoculars or a small telescope, star clusters can be seen in and around the SMC. The fuzzy blob of 47 Tucanae sits alongside the SMC, and is a globular cluster of millions of stars within our own galaxy. A stunning sight through binoculars or a telescope, professional telescopes have spent long hours examining 47 Tucanae, but have so far found no planets orbiting its stars. This may be due to the low metallicity of the stars, but the absence of gas giants is still puzzling. The brightest globular cluster in the sky, Omega Centauri, is also well placed for viewing, appearing to the naked eye as a fuzzy star in the north. Over the night, the Southern Cross and the Pointer Stars turn about a point called the South Celestial Pole. This point would appear directly overhead if you were at the South Pole, and all the stars in the southern sky appear to circle around it as the Earth rotates.

Highlights

A number of bright aurorae have recently been visible from the lower North Island and the South Island of New Zealand, including four observed in Wellington. These can now be forecast, and may contain over the coming month.

Late next month, Comet ISON will reappear in the morning sky, and may begin to give an indication of how bright it will get later in the year.

Leo is setting in the West, along with Bootes containing the bright star Arcturus. To it's left we see Corona Borealis and further left, we can see Hercules. Still further to the East, we have the constellations of Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra containing the stars Deneb, Altair and Vega which, together, make up the Summer Triangle. Down to its lower left is a small constellation called Delphina the dolphin.

The Planets

Jupiter is visible in the pre-dawn sky at a magnitude of around -1.9.

Saturn will be seen in the south west after sunset and will dim through the month from +0.5 to +0.6 magnitudes.

Mars will lie about 7 degrees above the northeastern horizon, about half an hour before sunrise, with a magnitude of +1.5 to +1.6. On July the 6th it will lie close to a thin crescent moon between the horns of Taurus and will pass close to Jupiter later in the month.

Mercury will lie between the Earth and the Sun, at inferior conjunction on July the 9th but will only really be visible towards the end of the month. It will reach nearly zeroth magnitude on the 29th of July.

Venus begins the month 11 degrees above the horizon at sunset, however as twilight ends it will be only 5 degrees above the horizon, but it's magnitude of -3.9 means it should be easily visible.

Highlights

Within Hercules, 4 stars make up the keystone. Within this, a fuzzy blob known as M13 (a globular cluster) is visible through binoculars or a telescope.

Towards Lyra, a little to the left of Vega, Epsilon Lyrae - a double star- is visible. With a telescope, you can see that each of those stars is also a double, making it the "double double".

Below vega are two bright stars, Beta and Gamma Lyrae, and between them is the planetary nebula M57, the ring nebula. You will need a telescope to see this.

The Dumbell Nebula, M27 in the constellation of Vulpecula is visible with binoculars.

3rd July: Venus lies in front of the Beehive Cluster.

12th July: The thin crescent Moon joins Venus and Regulus to make a straight line.

July 22nd: before dawn, Mars and Jupiter come within a degree of one another. In the evening, Venus comes within 1.25 degrees of Regulus, in Leo.

July 24th a lineup of saturn's moons is visible with a telescope.

In the last 2 mornings of July, 45 mins before sunrise, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury are all visible together. Binoculars are needed to see Mercury, but do not use them after the Sun has risen.

Southern Hemisphere

The brightest part of the Milky Way is visible in the south-east after sunset, in the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius. It hosts many bright star clusters and nebulae that can be observed during the long winter nights. At the apex of the Milky Way is Crux, or the Southern Cross, a diamond-shaped quartet of stars with a fifth, fainter star within. To M&#276ori in Aotearoa (New Zealand), it is Te Punga, the Anchor. To one side of this is a dark patch called the Coalsack Nebula, which is a cold and dark cloud of interstellar dust and gas that may one day form new stars. Running along the Milky Way to the east are the two bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri, which point the way to Crux and also mark the hooves of Centaurus, a creature with a human torso and the body of a horse. The faint glow of Omega Centauri, a globular cluster containing millions of stars, is to the north of Beta Centauri, and its structure can be seen with binoculars or a telescope. Aquila the Eagle and Cygnus the Swan are found along the Milky Way to the north. Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, is on the northern horizon marking the Swan's tail. A line of stars lead up to Albireo, the Swan's head. A small telescope reveals this to be a double star with yellow and blue components. Cygnus is sometimes referred to as the Northern Cross. Aquila, to the east, is marked by a line of three stars, the brightest of which is the central star, Altair. NGC 6709 and NGC 6755 are two open star clusters among several within Aquila, and a number of planetary nebulae may also be seen with a telescope. Nearby is the bright star Vega, in the constellation of Lyra. Vega, Deneb and Altair form the Winter Triangle, known as the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere.

The Planets

Saturn is well placed in the evening sky, appearing as a yellowish star near the blue-white star Spica in Virgo. A small telescope reveals the planet's rings and its largest moon, Titan.

Venus is low in the west after sunset, shining brilliantly.

Mars and Jupiter are in the pre-dawn sky and appear close together towards the end of the month, when the stars Aldebaran and Betelgeuse are just above them

Leo the Lion is in the west after sunset. Between Leo's hindmost star, Denebola, and the bright star Arcturus, in Bootes, is the constellation of Coma Berenices, which hosts part of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is an arclet of stars near between Bootes and Hercules. The four brightest stars in Hercules make a trapezium shape called the Keystone, and the globular cluster M13 can be found two thirds of the way up one side of it. The bright star Vega, in Lyra, is towards the east, and near to it is the Double Double - Epsilon Lyrae - which appears as a double star in binoculars but as a pair of double stars through a telescope. Cygnus the swan rises high into the sky later in the night, with its bright star Deneb. Altair, in Aquila, is lower to the south-east and completes the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair. About a third of the way from Altair to Vega is the dark region of the Milky Way called the Cygnus Rift, as well as the asterism called Brocchi's Cluster or the Coathanger.

The Planets

Jupiter is still just about visible at twilight at the beginning of the month. It shines at magnitude -1.8, but is lost against the setting Sun by mid-month, after which it will re-emerge into the pre-dawn sky towards the end of July.

Saturn is in Virgo and crosses the south as darkness falls. It is near the first-magnitude star Spica, but appears more yellow in colour. Its angular diameter decreases from 18.5 to 17.8" over the month as it moves away from us. It also approaches the star Kappa Virginis, which has a magnitude of +4.2, and is 0.5 degrees away from it at month's end. Saturn's rings are now at 17 degrees to the line of sight, allowing the largest gap between the rings, Cassini's Division, and the planet's largest moon, Titan, to be seen using a small telescope. Saturn's maximum elevation each night is now quite low, and will continue to decrease over the coming years.

Mercury forms the top of a line with Venus and Jupiter on the 1st. It has a magnitude of -0.4, and reaches greatest eastern elongation (its furthest easterly point from the Sun in the sky) on the 12th. It is best seen at that time, being 24 degrees from the Sun, and can be most easily viewed around 30 minutes after sunset. A telescope will show its slightly gibbous disc, 8" across. Mercury is 2.1 degrees from Venus on the 18th, moving below it to 1.9 degrees' separation the following night. You made need binoculars to locate Mercury at this time, so be sure to use them only after the Sun has gone down.

Mars reached superior conjunction (passing behind the Sun) on the 18th of April, and this month appears in the eastern sky before dawn. It rises about 30 minutes before the Sun on the 1st. It is difficult to spot at magnitude +1.4, but this becomes easier by the end of the month, when it is 7 degrees above the horizon shortly before dawn. You may still need binoculars to find it, so put them away before the Sun comes up.

Venus is about 8 degrees above the western horizon 30 minutes after sunset at the beginning of the month. It does not get very high in the sky, reaching 10 degrees' elevation around the 20th-25th. Its disc, 10" across, is 96 percent illuminated at the star of June as it is on the far side of the Sun, shining at magnitude -3.8. By the end of the month, it is still 91 percent illuminated.

Highlights

The asteroid Ceres can be found between the 5th and 7th, when it passes within 1 degree of the star Pollux, in Gemini. Look towards the west about an hour after sunset using binoculars to spot the asteroid at magnitude +8.8, but don't mistake it for a star of magnitude +8.4 nearby!

Mercury, Venus and a thin crescent Moon congregate on the 10th, visible shortly after sunset if you have a low western horizon. You may also spot earthshine - sunlight reflected from the Earth and reflected again from the dark part of the Moon.

A gibbous Moon appears very close to Spica, in Virgo, on the 18th, with Saturn not far away.

Southern Hemisphere

The south-eastern evening sky is dominated by the zodiacal constellations of Scorpius the Scorpion and Sagittarius the Archer. The red star Antares marks the Heart of the Scorpion, and its name means 'The Rival of Mars'. To Maori, and some Polynesians, Scorpius is seen as a fishing hook. Rehua is one Maori name for Antares, showing the blood of Maui staining the eye of the Hook. Straddling the Milky Way, the region around Scorpius is home to a number of nebulae and star clusters. The globular clusters M4 and NGC 6144 are near to Antares and can be observed using binoculars, while a number of double stars can be found along the body of the Scorpion. The open star cluster NGC 6231 appears rather like a comet to the naked eye and is near to the Scorpion's stinger, as is the hazier-looking open cluster M7. M6, the Butterfly Cluster, is in the same region but is fainter. Sagittarius also contains a wealth of nebulae and star clusters, while its brightest stars form the asterism known as the Teapot. Using binoculars, the globular cluster M22 can be found near to Lambda Sagitarii, which marks the top of the Teapot. M8 and M20 - otherwise known as the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula - make spectacular sights in Sagittarius. M8 is a compact open cluster surrounded by a circle of nebulosity containing a dark rift. M20 is similar, but is distinguished by dark lanes that split the nebula into three segments. The constellation of the Archer also hosts M23, an open cluster forming arcs of stars, M24, a looser cloud of stars, M25, an open cluster containing several deep yellow stars, and M55, a globular cluster. The Milky Way is at its brightest, widest and densest around Scorpius and Sagittarius because we are looking towards the centre of our Galaxy, some 30,000 light-years away. In Arabic it is Al Nahr, the river, to the Chinese it is the River of Heaven, and to Maori it is Te Ika Roa, the Long Fish. It contains dark bands consisting of gas and dust which may eventually form new clusters of stars.

The planet Saturn is easily spotted in the northern sky after sunset, while Venus appears with Mercury in the west. The Moon will also be in the west as the Sun sets on the 10th, while Venus and Mercury will be only 2 degrees apart on the 20th. The 21st marks the winter solstice, when the Sun rises and sets at its most northerly points and the night hours are at their longest. This date was celebrated in many cultures. In Aotearoa (New Zealand), the dawn rising of Matariki (the Pleiades Cluster) and Puanga (the star Rigel) coincide with the winter solstice, and mark the beginning of the new calendar year in the Maori system known as Te Maramataka.